Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz reported a January sales rise of 15 per cent today, while sales on a like-for-like basis were up 5 per cent.
H&M posted a 14 per cent gain in December.
H&M Chief Executive Rolf Eriksen said in late January, when the group presented its fourth-quarter results, that sales at the start of the year looked good.
H&M shares, which have risen about 20 Swedish crowns (€2.14) since the start of the year, edged down after the January sales figures by 0.9 per cent to 284 crowns (€30.4).
The group was the target of a number of broker downgrades after its fourth-quarter earnings came in below expectations. It has also said it saw the United States as its largest market in the long term. In addition, it wants to establish itself in Russia, but first wants to settle a trademark dispute in the former Soviet state.