New retail chain coming from H&M

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Fans of H&M will soon have a new place to shop as the Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB confirmed Thursday that it will open a new chain in 2013 that will build on the 2007 launch of its upscale Collection of Style (COS). No name for the new concept has been revealed yet.

"Like COS, which today is very successful with good profitability, the new chain of stores will be independent and complement the other offerings from the group," H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said. "We have great faith in this new brand and we see considerable potential for further initiatives."

Meanwhile, the company opened its first namebrand store in Sofia, Bulgaria, earlier in March, and plans to have opened other stores in Bulgaria, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico and — through a franchise — Thailand by the end of 2012.

H&M also reported Thursday that net profit for the quarter rose to $411 million, from $393 million in the same period a year earlier.

Stockholm-based H&M said net sales rose to $4.17 billion, from $3.68 billion a year ago. Profit results, which H&M blamed on higher cotton prices, missed analysts’ expectations.