H&M says fewer shopping days hit Feb sales

Budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz said on Friday its like-for-like sales fell for the fifth straight month in February and said fewer shopping days compared to the leap year in 2012 was in part to blame.

Sweden's H&M, which lags Zara owner Inditex in size, has been hit by weak consumer spending in Europe, where it has the bulk of its business. In contrast, Inditex's aggressive store expansion has helped it ride out the European downturn better than many competitors.

H&M same-store sales fell by 3 percent in local currencies from a year earlier, more than a mean forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts for a 2 percent drop.

"Sales in February 2013 were negatively affected by calendar effects of just over 3 percentage points due to the leap day on 29 February 2012," it said in a statement.

Total sales, which also includes sales in stores open less than a year, were up 5 percent, missing a forecast for a 7 percent increase.

Full quarterly earnings are due on March 21.

February is the final month in the retailer's fiscal first quarter and the company said sales in the period totalled 28.4 billion Swedish crowns ($4.41 billion) compared to a mean forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts of 29.0 billion.

The group has been making long-term investments in online shopping and new chains of stores, such as the recently-launched "& Other Stories," in a bid to catch up with the broader offering of Spain's Inditex, which on top of Zara also runs a string of other brands.

Inditex - the world's largest clothing retailer - posted this week a sharp rise in full-year profit as its aggressive expansion into markets like China offset woes in Europe.

H&M, present in 48 markets, has said it would open a net 325 stores this year, with most planned in China and the United States. It will also launch online sales in the United States.