Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), the Swedish fashion giant, today beat forecasts after sales rose by 15 per cent rise in sales during July.

The clothing retailer said like-for-like turnover in its established stores was up by 3 per cent, up on the 2.1 per cent predicted by analysts who had also expected total sales to rise by 13 per cent.

In June, sales in established stores fell by 2 per cent as the credit crisis kept shoppers away from tills.

Sales at H&M had previously stayed high despite the gloom elsewhere on the high street, as its cheap clothing enticed cost-conscious consumers.

In March, it unveiled a 19 per cent jump in profits and its strongest sales growth for five months with pre-tax group profits of 4.06 billion Swedish crowns (£338 million) for the three months to February, against 3.90 billion crowns a year ago.

The company did not provide separate figures for the UK, where the group has 132 of its 1,529 stores.

The increase came despite recent downbeat news from Germany, H&M’s biggest market, where industry data showed apparel sales there fell 2 percent in July.

Peter Wallin, analyst at Kaupthing, said: “Sales are a little bit better than the market expectations. It shows the trend we have seen - that in a weak market H&M will perform better than the underlying clothing market.”

Inditex, Europe’s biggest clothing firm, which owns chains including Zara and Pull and Bear, has suffered a slowdown in turnover this year although it has not adjusted its target for full-year growth of 4 per cent in established store sales.

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