H&M profit beats expectations for June to August

In the March-May quarter, the pandemic pushed H&M into a deep loss as sales halved.

In the March-May quarter, the pandemic pushed H&M into a deep loss as sales halved. Picture Reuters/Mike Segar

H&M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, reported a better than expected preliminary quarterly profit before tax of around 2 billion crowns (192 million) as it recovered quickly from a coronavirus-induced slump.

Analysts had on average seen a profit of 191 million crowns for the June-August period, against a year-ago profit of 5.01 billion, according to Refinitiv’s SmartEstimate model, which is weighted towards more recent estimates and higher-ranked analysts.