The experienced fashion manager runs H&M.
(Photo: H&M)
Stockholm The relief was evident. Despite a boycott in China and the late effects of the corona crisis, Helena Helmersson, head of the world’s second largest fashion retailer H&M, was able to present an unexpectedly good result for the third quarter on Thursday. The profit rose to six billion crowns (597 million euros), an increase of 158 percent compared to the same period last year. In contrast, sales rose by only 14 percent to 55.6 billion crowns.
One reason for this difference was the better range, which resulted in fewer discounts. Analysts rated the result as positive in view of the difficult environment.
“We are on the right track,” said the CEO, not only referring to the financial result, but also the effects of the pandemic on buying behavior and the disruptions in the international movement of goods. Nonetheless, the economist emphasized that the difficulties will “continue for a while”. But crisis management seems to lie with Helmersson, 48 years old.
Her entry into the new job could not have been more difficult: When she took over the management of the Swedish fashion group H&M at the end of January 2020, the crisis years were over, but the task ahead of her was to expand the online business, which had been neglected but was increasingly important .
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She knew from day one that she had a difficult task ahead of her. “We are a company with a 70-year history that has worked successfully with the same business model. Renewing such an established company is a big task, ”she said shortly after her appointment.
With H&M since 1997
And then came the corona crisis. The manager immediately felt the consequences: sales and profits fell, but Helmersson, who has worked for H&M since 1997 in various positions, including as production manager in Bangladesh and later as head of sustainability, countered.
The online trade was expanded, was able to compensate for part of the losses, and in the summer the first woman at the top of the group was back in the black. Much of what she had set out to do has already been implemented: The most important thing was the further expansion of online trading, which represents a growing share of total sales.
So far, it has not been able to resolve the conflict with China. A year ago, H&M announced that it would no longer source cotton from western China due to possible human rights violations, where reports from human rights organizations have reported that the Muslim Uyghur minority is doing forced labor.
After the relatively old statement about social networks was circulated again in the spring, Chinese state media indirectly called for boycotts. Little has changed in the situation so far. Helmersson is covered. You are “in a complex situation”, is her tight-lipped comment.
Promotion of fairer wages
Employees attest to her great social commitment, which was strengthened by her stays in Bangladesh and Hong Kong for several years. The economist has long been promoting fairer wages and more sustainability in the fashion industry. “We have to strengthen the workers in their position,” she said some time ago.
There is hardly any internal criticism of it, but external criticism does. Last year it came out that H&M had spied on employees in its customer center in Nuremberg, saved data on illnesses and accidentally passed it on to a broad group of employees. That was “unfortunate,” said Helmersson in a TV interview. Not more. There was clear criticism from the Verdi union. “Outrageous, brazen, unreasonable” was her statement.
Despite a number of crises, H&M is a Swedish success story that is hardly inferior to that of the Ikea furniture store: Founded in 1947 by Erling Persson in the small town of Västerås west of Stockholm, H&M has developed into one of the largest fashion chains in the world.
Helmersson wants to continue the success story. Assertive, but at the same time always open to the concerns of the employees – this is attested to by the people with whom she works every day. And the fact that the owner family Persson continues to pull the strings in the background has so far not distracted them.
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