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Two of Europe's biggest value clothes retailers today raised fears flagging consumer confidence is starting to lead to a slowdown in sales growth.
Hennes & Mauritz, trading as H&M, said November sales rose 8% in established stores in line with analysts' predictions. But rival Inditex, owner of the Zara chain, appeared to show a 2% decline in same-store sales in the past six weeks. Inditex shares lost 3.5%.
“The problem is current trading,” SG analyst Anne Critchlow said of the Inditex figures. “We've calculated minus 2% like-for-like in sales for the first six weeks of the fourth quarter. This does not bode well.”
Analysts were similarly worried H&M sales in continental Europe and possibly in the US could be coming under pressure.
Inditex said profits for the first nine months rose 42% to €1.18 billion (£999 million) after tax.
