H&M, the world's second-largest listed fashion retailer, reported a significant decline in its third-quarter operating profit, which fell to SEK 3.51 billion from SEK 4.63 billion a year earlier. The company's net profit also decreased to SEK 2.31 billion from SEK 3.32 billion. Despite a sales increase of 11% in September, H&M announced it would not meet its 2024 earnings margin target, primarily due to higher costs, increased discounting, and intense competition. As a result, H&M shares dropped by 8%. The company has decided to initiate a SEK 1 billion share buyback program starting on September 26, 2024, and continuing until November 26, 2024. H&M's CEO highlighted that the company is shifting costs from non-productive efforts to initiatives that strengthen customer offerings and emphasized the need to focus on sales growth to achieve a long-term double-digit operating margin. Marketing spend in the fourth quarter will remain at the same level as the third quarter. The company also noted that Q3 sales were SEK 59.0 billion.