H&M sales slump amid muted return to stores

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said local currency sales had tumbled 57% since the start of March compared with a year ago as the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns kept most of its stores closed.

Online sales grew 32%, it said in a statement covering the trading period from March 1-May 6. H&M warned, last month, it would make its first quarterly loss in many decades in March-May, its fiscal second quarter.