H&M Slides as Cool April Weather Dents Retailer’s Monthly Sales

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Hennes & Mauritz AB shares fell after the clothing retailer said sales in April were hurt by unseasonably cool weather in many parts of Europe.

The stock dropped 1.9 percent to 260 kroner at 9:03 a.m. in Stockholm, extending this year’s decline to 14 percent.

Sales rose five percent last month at local currency rates, missing the 7.9 percent average estimate of analysts surveyed by SME Direkt. Unusually, the company included a commentary with its monthly figures to cite the impact of the weather.

“The cold spring which continued into April in several of H&M’s large markets has had an unfavorable impact on sales of transitional garments,” H&M said.

Snow fell in Germany, the retailer’s biggest market, and other parts of Europe in April, causing shoppers to delay purchases of items such as t-shirts and shorts. Britain’s Next Plc has also cited the impact of the cool weather.

H&M last month reported quarterly earnings that fell the most in five years as the strong dollar inflated the cost of Asian-made garments.

By Paul Jarvis.