Chinese fast fashion brand SHEIN profits have reportedly doubled to USD 2 billion. Started in 2008, the Nanjing-based company hit the circuit of familiarity in the past few years. The brand has taken the budget fashion world by storm. This market was, and in many ways is still dominated by the the Euro-American giants of H&M, Forever21 and Zara.
Bumper Profit
According to reports from British network Financial Times the company generated USD 2 billion in profits in 2023. With this, the company surpassed the fiscal performance of rival fast fashion company H&M.
The Swedish company that leads the fast fashion pack, H&M saw its profits being halved from 2021 to 2022.
Shein's boom in business can be largely attributed to customer base. The company boasts of environmentally conscious millennials and GenZs.
The company is yet to be listed on the equity markets. The company is a privately held company owned by its founders and backed by venture capital firms such as Tiger Global, Sequoia China, and IDG Capital.
The Fast Fashion World
This comes barely a year after the May 2023 round of fund-raising, that fetched the company USD 2 billion. Nevertheless, the company slashed its valuation from USD 66 billion around the same time.
As for Spanish-giant Zara, that has also carved its space in the international fashion market, the profits for the company, according to available data dropped from nearly USD 13 million to just above USD 11 million from 2022 to 2023. When it comes to American-giant Forever21, the company reached a peak revenue of USD 4 billion in 2023.
In the time to come whether protectionist policies from the American and European governments will impact the sales of SHEIN, is something that remains to be seen. This, as tangibly protectionist policies has been on the horizon, in US and Europe, for other crucial sectors, including Tech and Automobile.
H&M shares were trading SEK 174.58, having jumped 13.14 per cent (28 Mar, 12:59 pm).
