H&M fashion retailer shutters last stores in Russia

AFP , Thursday 15 Dec 2022

Swedish fashion retailer H&M announced Thursday that it had closed its last remaining stores in Russia and Belarus, wrapping up its progressive withdrawal over the Ukraine conflict.

H M Russia
H M, has been operating in Russia since 2009. The flagship store in downtown Moscow was closed on November 30. Photo courtesy of Moskva News Agency

 

After stopping sales in Russia in March after Russia invaded Ukraine, H&M announced in July that it would withdraw from Russia at a cost of 2.1 billion Swedish kronor (about 193 million euros).

"The H&M group's operations in Russia and Belarus were wound up during the quarter, with the remaining stock being sold off and the last stores having closed on 30 November," the group said in a statement.

Russia was the group's sixth largest market at the end of 2021, and represented more than 2 billion krona in revenue as of 2021's last quarter.

The closure of H&M stores in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine affected the Swedish retailer's overall revenue.

During the last financial year (December 2021-November 2022), sales climbed 12 percent to 223.6 billion kronor, a six percent increase at constant exchange rate.

Without the closures, H&M said sales would have increased 15 percent and eight percent, respectively.

Short link: