Fashion retailer H&M’s Q1 operating profit rises more than expected

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -H&M, the world's second-biggest listed fashion retailer, reported on Wednesday a larger-than-expected operating profit for the December-February period. Operating profit in the Swedish group's fiscal first quarter was 2.08 billion crowns ($196.3 million), up from 725 million a year earlier, against a mean forecast of 1.43 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts. H&M has said it aims to reach a 10% operating profit over the course of this year.