STOCKHOLM—H&M reported on Thursday lower-than-expected quarterly sales as shoppers tighten their belts with energy and food bills soaring and the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer struggles to compete with rival Zara.
Third-quarter net sales at the Swedish group were up 3 percent from a year earlier at 57.5 billion crowns ($5.4 billion), short of the 5 percent which analysts polled by Refinitiv had forecast for the June-August quarter.
“The third quarter got off to a weak start, in common with the industry in many of the group’s major markets,” H&M, which does the bulk of its business in Europe, said in a statement….