Fashion retailer H&M’s global sales growth slowed in the second half of June, highlighting a patchy recovery from the pandemic as restrictions ease and stores reopen.

The world’s second largest fashion retailer, reported a 4 per cent decline in sales from June 1-28 compared to 2019, indicating that sales slowed throughout the month.

Helena Helmersson, CEO, attributed the June easing of sales to a combination of factors, including tough year-ago and 2019 comparisons, cold weather in some European markets last week, and how coronavirus restrictions are being eased.

The retailers local-currency sales in China declined by 23 per cent in the company’s second quarter after H&M was wiped off Tmall and domestic phonemakers’ app stores in March amid a backlash after H&M had expressed concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.China is one of H&M’s top clothing suppliers and fourth-biggest market by sales. Other big brands were also hit by consumer boycotts in China for raising similar concerns.

For its second quarter, H&M swung to a pretax profit of 3.59 billion crowns ($419 million) from a year-earlier loss of 6.48 billion, ahead of analyst forecasts.

Around 95 of its 5,000 stores globally remained temporarily closed due to restrictions currently, against around 1,300 at the start of March.