A massive clothing company CEO is now out after unexpectedly stepping down after four years, sources report.
H&M Group CEO Helena Helmersson, a 26-year veteran of the company, has decided to step down and leave the company, the fast-fashion apparel retailer said on Wednesday.
She had been chief executive for four years.
Longtime company executive Daniel Ervér was immediately named to take her place.
He has been there for 18 years in various roles, most recently as head of H&M, its largest brand.
The unexpected shakeup occurred following a tough holiday report, reports RetailDive.
Fourth quarter net sales were flat year over year at 62.7 million Swedish kronor (around $6 million at press time).
For the year, net sales rose 6% and gross profit increased by 7%, for a gross margin of 51.2%, per another press release.
Helmersson on Wednesday expressed “mixed feelings” about her departure, noting that she has spent nearly her entire career at H&M but that her tenure as chief executive was marked by the “pandemic, and several geopolitical and macro-economic challenges.”
“However, it has been very demanding at times for me personally and I now feel that it is time to leave the CEO role, which of course has not been an easy decision,” she said in a statement.
In his own statement, Karl-Johan Persson, who is H&M Group board chair and previously served as CEO, acknowledged those challenges and praised Helmersson for having “decisively and effectively led and navigated the H&M group” through them.
He noted the company’s “positive profitability trend” and said that conditions were favorable for further improvements this year.
However the company’s full-year sales results reflect just 1.4% growth compared to pre-pandemic sales, with the holidays “particularly disappointing,” according to GlobalData research.
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Other Economy News Today
A home improvement retailer now closes all 157 stores and furloughs a whopping 700 employees, part of a plan to wind down operations.
Kelly-Moore Paints has suffered financial distress for years from paying out about $600 million in asbestos litigation claims and still faces millions of dollars more in payments from future asbestos claims, as well as unpaid taxes, according to a company statement.
Kelly-Moore, which operated in California, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas, said in a statement that it would not file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization or Chapter 7 liquidation, since it does not have the capital to fund its continued operations, it leases all of its facilities, and it has no unencumbered hard assets that could be made available to distribute to creditors.
The regional paint store chain, which was founded in 1946, had moved its headquarters to Irving, Texas, in 2023 after operating from its main office in San Carlos, Calif., for 77 years.
The company had hired financial adviser firm Houlihan Lokey to help seek capital for a business turnaround and entertain offers from interested investors, but was unable to secure a letter of intent from any investor and failed to obtain additional funding to continue operations, reports TheStreet.
The company began closing its facilities on Jan. 12, including all of its retail stores and its manufacturing facility in Hurst, Texas, but said it would try to continue fulfilling previously placed customer orders from existing inventory at its Union City, Calif., distribution facility
Kelly-Moore said employees will be fully compensated for regular time worked, and management will continue its efforts to collect receivables to pay all accrued benefits including paid time off.
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Also Read: A US Company Now Declares An Unexpected Bankruptcy
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