Nordic Business Report-January 25, 2007-H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB reports 12-month operating profit of SEK15,298m (C)1994-2007 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD http://www.m2.com Swedish fashion chain H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB issued on Thursday (25 January) its report for the 12-month period December 2005-November 2006, posting an operating profit of SEK15,298m, as compared to SEK13,173m in the corresponding period a year earlier. Sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK68,400m, up by 12% from SEK61,262m a year earlier. Sales in comparable stores increased by 2%, but during the financial year H&M opened 168 new stores. H&M said that it plans to continue to increase the number of stores by 10-15% per year, and that it consequently plans to open 170 new stores in the financial year 2006/2007. Most of the new stores will be located in the US, Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. The company has also begun preparations to open a store in Tokyo, Japan in 2008. The plans for 2007 also include the launch of a home textiles business. H&M Home, scheduled to be launched in the autumn, will initially offer home textiles through online and catalogue sales in the Nordic region and in the Netherlands, as well as through online sales in Germany and in Austria. During the year H&M will also launch a new store chain under the brand COS (Collection of Style). The new store chain will open some 10 stores during the year, beginning with a store in Regent Street in London in March. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is an international clothes and cosmetics chain with nearly 40,400 employees in some 20 countries. H&M is listed on the Nordic Exchange in Stockholm. One British pound (GBP) is worth approximately 13.38 Swedish kronor (SEK). ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected]))