H&M sales surpasses expectations

Swedish budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz, posted a 14 percent rise in October sales on Monday, in comparison to the same month last year. The rise beat Analysts forecasts by 4 percent.

The company had warned back in September that unusually warm weather had hit sales of its cold weather gear with sales up only 8% that month. The total number of stores amounted to 3,437 on 31 October 2014 versus 3,081 on 31 October 2013.

Percentage sales development for the month of November and total revenue in SEK for the fourth quarter (September to November) will be published by the company on 15 December 2014, while the Full-year Report, covering the period 1 December 2013 to 30 November 2014, will be published on 28 January 2015.

H&M which dubs itself as "one of the world's largest fashion retailers known for offering fashion-forward apparel at affordable prices," has the bulk of business in Europe. It has been expanding its online business and investing in new concepts as it faces rising competition from low-cost clothing retailers such as Primark.

The company currently has 355 locations across the United states and plans to open a 24,000-square-foot store in Taylor by the fall of 2015. With the opening, H&M will add more jobs to its list of roughly 15,000 employees.