H&M Hennes & Mauritz stock fell as much as 10% on Wednesday after the Swedish retailer’s CEO stepped down following worse-than-forecast results.
H&M
HM.B,
announced that Helena Helmersson is leaving after four years as CEO, to be replaced by Daniel Erver, a 42-year-old insider who has headed the core H&M unit. Karl-Johan Persson, H&M’s chair, said she guided the company through a “very intense” time marked by the pandemic, geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges.
H&M swung to a profit of 1.58 billion Swedish kronor ($150 million), on virtually flat sales of 62.65 billion kronor. The profit was well below the Visible Alpha-compiled consensus of 3.16 billion kronor, and sales also missed the consensus of 63.21 billion.
“For many consumers the year was marked by lower purchasing power because of high inflation and high interest rates,” said Helmersson. H&M also has been hurt by its exit from Russia, and it said unusually hot weather in key Europe markets hit sales in the early part of the fourth quarter.
