By Dominic Chopping 
 

STOCKHOLM--Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK) reported Monday fourth quarter sales growth in line with expectations.

Sales in the quarter ended Nov. 30, excluding value-added tax, rose 12% from a year earlier to 56.43 billion Swedish kronor ($4.94 billion). Analysts polled by FactSet had expected SEK56.43 billion.

H&M has lagged behind competitors in the move to online sales, but its transition to the web has started to bear fruit recently, contributing to improving sales and increased market share.

"The H&M group continued to grow globally during 2018 in a rapidly changing fashion industry," the company said Monday.

The retailer said sales including VAT in the fourth quarter rose to SEK65.45 billion, from SEK58.48 billion, while sales including VAT in local currencies increased by 6%.

The figures are provisional and may deviate slightly from the full-year report that will be published on Jan. 31, 2019, it added.

H&M said that in future, only sales excluding VAT will be reported as a measure of sales.

-Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com; Twitter: @domchopping @WSJNordics

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 17, 2018 02:41 ET (07:41 GMT)

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