H&M利潤竟然大幅度下降！這是什麼情況？

H&M's profits fell 20 per cent in the third quarter of 2018, despite the Swedish brand recording a 9 per cent increase in sales, helped by a 32 per cent rise in online sales.

2018年的第三季度，H&M的利潤下降了20%，儘管這個瑞典品牌對應的銷售額上漲了9%，部分也歸功於網店銷售收入增長32%。

H&M has invested heavily in making its online and in-store offerings more seamless, in an effort to compete with online retailers likeAsos and Zaland.

H&M爲了讓網店和實體店的服務無縫對接擲下了重金，此舉是爲了和其對手Asos和Zaland競爭。

The group has seen profits shrink and struggled to shift stock in recent years due to competition from both those brands, as well as high-street rivals such as Primark.

爲了和這些品牌，其中也包括像Primark這樣的高街品牌，H&M近幾年利潤縮減，在庫存方面也非常堪憂。

However, the company reassured investors on Thursday that it would not need to cut costs to move unsold clothing in spite of the quarterly dip in profit.

不過在週四的時候，該公司向投資商保證，雖然利潤的下降，但並不會通清理沒有賣掉的衣服來縮減成本。

The fashion company's CEO, Karl-Johan Persson, said: “The rapid changes in the fashion industry are continuing and the H&M group is in an exciting transitional period.

這個時尚公司的首席執行官Karl-Johan Persson說：“這個行業正在持續快速地發生着變化，我們公司正在經歷着激動人心的轉型階段。”

Our transformation work has contributed to a gradual improvement in sales development with increased market share in most markets during the third quarter, particularly in Germany, Sweden, Eastern Europe, Russia and China.

我們的轉型會慢慢地在銷售方面看到成效，在第三季度我們的在大部分的市場上都是增長態勢，尤其在德國、瑞典、東歐、俄羅斯和中國。

“In the US, France, Italy and Belgium, however, store sales were negatively impacted by the problems that arose when we introduced new logistics systems in these markets.

在美國、法國、意大利、比利時的負面影響主要是因爲我們的在這些市場上引進的新的物流系統所導致。

The new logistics systems are an essential part of our work to make our supply chain faster, more flexible and more efficient, and to continue the integration of stores and online.”

新的物流體系，對我們供應鏈的迅速，靈活，有效，和逐步將實體店和網店的整合有着重要的意義。

As of May this year, H&M had 4,801 stores in 69 countries and is looking to expand its reach even further.

到今年的五月，該公司在69個國家一共有4801家店，而且還在持續擴張。

（翻譯：林潯鷗）