H&M fourth-quarter pretax beats forecast, sets new growth target

Swedish fashion retailer reported on Tuesday a surprise rise in pretax profit for the September-November period and set a new growth target to increase local-currency turnover by 10 to 15 percent annually.

Pretax profit in H&M's fiscal fourth quarter rose to 7.41 billion crowns ($839 million) from a year earlier 7.15 billion, against a mean forecast for a 2 percent fall to 7.02 billion seen in a Reuters poll of analysts.