OREANDA-NEWS  Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), the owner of Europe's second largest clothing store chain, lost 3.7 billion Swedish kronor (almost $ 363 million) as a result of leaving the Russian market and closing 172 stores in the country, as well as three stores in Belarus. This is stated in the company's report.

In addition to the curtailment of operations in Russia, the pressure on the company's business was exerted by the global economic downturn, disruptions in supply chains, restructuring costs, an increase in the cost of electricity and a strong US dollar. The total negative effect of all factors amounted to 5 billion kronor ($490 million), disclosed in H& M.

At the same time, the retailer's revenue in the 2022 fiscal year, covering the period from December 1, 2021 to November 30, 2022, increased by 12 percent year—on-year, and excluding Russia, Belarus and Ukraine - by 15 percent, to 223.5 billion kronor (almost $ 22 billion). Net profit fell to 3.566 billion kronor (about $350 million) from 11.010 billion kronor (more than $1.08 billion) a year earlier. According to the results of the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, the company received a net loss of 864 million kronor ($84.7 million) compared with a profit of 4.6 billion kronor ($ 450 million) a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the loss was 0.53 kronor ($0.05) against a profit of 2.79 kronor ($0.27) in 2021. Quarterly revenue rose by almost 10 percent, to 62.433 billion kronor ($6.12 billion).

H&M's withdrawal from the Russian market was not without scandals. The country's shopping centers have massively filed lawsuits against the Swedish retailer, which owes at least 1 billion rubles for the lease of retail space.