Hargreaves Lansdowne’s Streeter said: “Shoppers are showing signs of trading down and looking for bargains, so the pressure is on for H&M to compete with chains offering greater value, from Primark to Boohoo and Shein Online. “
H&M said its savings would begin in the second half of next year, while it would take a restructuring charge of 800 million Swedish crowns in the fourth quarter.
“We are going through a big change and the entire retail industry is facing many challenges,” Nils Vinge, H&M’s head of investor relations, told Reuters.
“It is very clear that when consumers have paid for their food … there is less to spend on energy, gas, and so on. So it is clear that demand for value for money goes up”.
Vinge said the lion’s share of the job cuts were related to administration and overhead costs and would be made in Sweden.
Shares in H&M, which are down for nearly a third year to date, rose 0.7% at 1130 GMT, underperforming a 1.2% rise in Stockholm’s benchmark index .OMXS30.
Also on Wednesday, US food delivery service DoorDash Inc DASH.N said it was cutting about 1,250 jobs in an effort to rein in costs.