Stockholm  - Swedish clothes retailing company Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) Thursday posted an 11-per-cent increase in pre-tax profits for the financial year 2008, and said it planned to continue expanding its business.

Pre-tax profits of 21.19 billion kronor (2.65 billion dollars) were posted on sales of 88.5 billion kronor, excluding value added tax (VAT), for the period December 2007 to November 2008.

Turnover, excluding VAT, was up 13 per cent on the corresponding business period December 2006 to November 2007.

For the fourth quarter 2008, pre-tax profit increased 14 per cent year on year to 7.1 billion kronor.

Fourth-quarter sales, excluding VAT, were up 15 per cent to 26.3 billion kronor, the group said.

Full-year sales were "satisfying" when taking the global economic downturn into account, the group said in a comment.

For 2009, the group planned to add 225 stores mainly in Britain, the United States, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.

The company's first stores were also due to open in Moscow and Beijing.

A new franchise store with Alshaya was planned to open in Lebanon. In 2008, franchises opened in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman.

The company said it opened 214 stores worldwide during the financial year, while 18 were closed.

Eighteen of the new stores were franchise stores.

In all, H&M operated 1,738 stores at the end of the period compared to 1,522 for the corresponding December 2006 to November 2007 period. (dpa)