Swedish clothes retailing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) Thursday reported a 14-per-cent increase in net profit for the financial year 2010, but noted higher transport and raw material costs, according to dpa. The group posted a net profit of 18.68 billion kronor (2.9 billion dollars) on sales of 108 billion kronor, excluding value added tax (VAT), for the period December 2009 to November 2010. Net profit in the previous financial year was 16.3 billion kronor. Chief executive Karl-Johan Persson said the year was "very good" for the group but noted that the economic situation was still weak in several markets. The company said it operated 2,206 stores at the end of November compared to 1,988 during the corresponding business period 2009. The net addition of 218 new stores was slightly lower than the 240 stores it had previously estimated. This was partly due to slower completion of new shopping malls. In the fourth quarter, the net profit fell year-on-year from 6.1 billion kronor to 5.48 billion kronor. Sales in local currencies in the fourth quarter, excluding VAT, were up 15 per cent, the group said. New markets in 2010 included South Korea, Israel and Turkey. For 2011, the group planned to add 250 stores worldwide, but would focus mainly on Britain, the United States and China.
