H&M lifts apparel retailers' gloom as profit beats estimates

Stockholm

HENNES & Mauritz AB provided some much-needed good news for Europe's struggling clothing retail market, reporting profit that topped estimates and setting a new annual growth target.

After missing estimates for five of the previous six quarters, H&M said fourth-quarter pre-tax earnings rose to 7.41 billion kronor (S$1.2 billion), exceeding the 7.04 billion kronor average estimate. A previous target of increasing store numbers by 10 per cent to 15 per cent a year will instead become a sales target that includes both stores and online revenue.