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H&M closes last stores in Russia

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
H&M closes last stores in Russia
People enter H&M's flagship Moscow store for the last time before the world's No.2 fashion retailer closes all its stores in Russia for good. Photo: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko

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

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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.

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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.

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