Fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a 27 percent rise in first-quarter pretax profit on Wednesday, helped by celebrity collections, pop icon advertising and costs control.
The Swedish high-street firm, with clothes designed by pop diva Madonna, said it would push up the pace of its store expansion in the second quarter and added February sales were strong.
The launch of its new, higher price concept store had gone well, while sales at its first regular store in Hong Kong had exceeded expectations, said the company which boasts Australian pop queen Kylie Minogue as the face of its new beachwear campaign.
H&M reported a pretax profit of 3.41 billion crowns ($486.7 million) in the first quarter, against analysts’ average forecast of 3.36 billion in a Reuters poll and 2.68 billion in the same quarter last year.
source : reuters