H&M's sales fillip gives a lift to high street

H&M yesterday posted some encouraging news for the high street, with the Swedish fashion giant revealing trading last month had not been as bad as feared.

The group, which is the second-largest clothing retailer in the world, said like-for-like sales had fallen 1 per cent in November, better than analysts were expecting and an improvement on a 5 per cent drop suffered in October.

Total sales were up 7 per cent, with the number of stores worldwide rising to 2,776 by the end of the month, more than 300 higher than the same time a year ago.

The period covered by the figures saw H&M launch a collaboration with the label Maison Martin Margiela.

The eurozone crisis has hit the company, although it has been working on expanding its presence in the United States and Asia.