H&M 3Q Profit Up 25%

Stockholm, Sweden, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said Wednesday its third-quarter net profit jumped 25%, boosted by high summer sales. Net income for the three months ending Aug. 31 came to 3.17 billion kronor, or $486.47 million.

Third-quarter sales, including value-added tax, rose to 22.03 billion kronor ($3.39 billion) from 19.61 billion kronor a year ago.

The launch of a Web site and catalog sales in Germany and Austria, which began in August, has also begun very well, the company said.

H&M said it still planned to open 170 new stores during this financial year. In the fourth quarter, 83 new stores are planned in the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy.

The launch of the company’s new retail format, H&M Home, however, has been postponed to the second half of 2008 because "more time is needed to develop the concept," the company said.