H&M (STO: HM-B) Monthly Sales Update: Lower-Than-Expected Growth in December

Executive Summary

• H&M reported a 6% year-over-year increase in total sales in local currencies in December 2016. This compares to sales growth of 9% in November.
• The total number of stores grew by 10.7% year over year to 4,379, as of December 31.
• Sales growth lagged store growth by 466 basis points (bps) in December, expanding from the 188 bps difference in November.