Swedish clothing retailer H&M recorded much improved sales in September after very poor figures in August. Meanwhile in Romania, the fashion giant has continued to post fairytale figures, with sales of over EUR 50 million in December 2011 to August 2012 – more than double the same period in the previous year.

Internationally, like for like sales shrank by 4 percent in August, but bounced back to 6 percent growth in September. Both sets of figures were affected by the weather; the summer heatwave caused sales to fall, while cooler weather in September sent consumers running to buy a new jumper.

H&M now has 18 stores in Romania and the company has recorded monthly, quarterly and yearly growth since entering the Romanian market. Third quarter sales (June – August 2012 ) were up by 69 percent in Romania to EUR 17.5 million, compared to the same period in the previous year. Internationally, H&M missed its Q3 targets after exceeding Q2 forecasts previously.

H&M is the world’s second largest fashion retailer after Spanish company Zara. At the end of September, the firm had 2,669 stores worldwide, according to Reuters news agency.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com