Swedish fashion giant H&M has released its latest nine-month report revealing plans for expansion into New Zealand.
The company has recorded strong growth since December 2014, with a 12% increase in profit after tax.
The group's sales excluding VAT also increased by 22% or 12 per cent in local currencies.
It has also announced that in FY15/16 it will expand its e-commerce offering to a further nine existing H&M markets and open stores in three new markets: New Zealand, Cyprus and Puerto Rico.
At this stage, there has been no confirmation on locations and the number of stores that will open in the region.
H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson provided insights into the report.
“So far this year our sales have exceeded SEK 153 billion including VAT, an increase of more than 20 percent – an acknowledgement that our collections are well appreciated worldwide.
“Sales were also good in the third quarter even though sales in August were negatively affected by the unseasonably warm weather in many of our large European markets.
When the weather became more normal in September, sales took off again and we are looking forward to an exciting fashion autumn.
“Profits have developed well during the first nine months of the year, although profits in the third quarter were negatively affected by increased purchasing costs due to the strong US dollar.
“As always, we are reviewing our customer offering in each market and we are monitoring the market closely to ensure that we offer the best combination of fashion, quality, price and sustainability.
We are also strengthening our offering by continuously developing and improving our range even further.
“For example, our new concept H&M Beauty was launched during the summer.
“H&M Beauty has enjoyed a very good start in around 700 stores in 28 markets as well as online.
“We are now continuing the roll-out to a further 14 markets during the autumn.
“We are also looking into launching other new concepts and brands; we will come back to this at a later date.
There has been no mention of H&M or its sister brands opening more retail stores Australia in FY16.