Shares down over 12% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Stockholm, 27 Jun - Shares in Swedish affordable fashion retailer H&M were sharply lower after the company announced second quarter results and said it would be more challenging to achieve its full year operating margin guidance of 10%, which it kept unchanged.

At 0828 GMT, H&M shares were down 12.15% at 171.00 Swedish crowns while the OMX Stockholm 30 was 0.35% higher.

H&M cautioned that external factors that influence purchasing costs and sales revenues, including materials and foreign currency, will have a more negative impact than expected in the second half of the year.

It also said that sales in the month of June are expected to decrease by 6% in local currencies compared with the same period last year reflecting strong comparative figures from 2023 and unstable weather in many of the H&M group's large markets at the start of the month had a negative impact on sales, but sales recovered as the weather normalised at the end of the month. A well-composed inventory has also enabled a later start to sale compared with the previous year, it said.

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(RADIOCOR) 27-06-24 10:45:24 (0243) 5 NNNN