H&M

H&M said Wednesday its net profit more than doubled in the first quarter as the world's second biggest fashion retailer worked to control costs.

The Swedish company reported a profit-after-tax of 1.2 billion kronor ($113.3 million) in the December-to-February period.

Spanish fashion retailer Zara is expanding its used apparel scheme to Greece and another 13 European countries from December 12, Reuters reported the company as saying on Tuesday. Their 'Pre-Owned' service will sell, repair and donate second-hand clothes.

Shares in H&M surged yesterday as the Swedish clothing giant reported better-than-expected earnings for its second quarter.

H&M reported a net profit of 3.29 billion kronor ($305 million) for the March-to-May period.

It was down from 3.68 billion kronor the year before but above expectations of 2.84 billion kronor in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.

Swedish low-cost fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz AB said yesterday that its net sales in local currencies have increased by 8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 56 billion kronor ($6 billion) back at pre-pandemic level with the full year net sales increasing by 6 percent to 199 billion kronor ($21 billion).

H&M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Monday it was evaluating all its activities and temporarily closing stores in 12 more markets due to the coronavirus as it reported a 24 percent quarterly sales slump in China.

Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz said on Dec. 15 that its sales fell below expectations in the fourth quarter and it would close more stores as customers increasingly prefer to shop online.

The Swedish clothing retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is launching an online store for Bulgaria in 2015, the company said in a press release.

The exact date is not given.

H&M will also launch online stores in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia.