H&M Q2 earnings beat forecast

STOCKHOLM: Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-biggest clothing retailer, beat quarterly profit forecast, joining larger rival Inditex in showing austerity-hit shoppers are keen to cheer themselves up with cheap fashions.

The Swedish group said pre-tax earnings reached 7.1 billion crowns (US$1bil) in its second quarter, which runs from March to May, compared with 5.8 billion a year ago and a mean forecast in a poll of analysts for 6.6 billion. Reuters