STOCKHOLM: H&M, the world's second-biggest fashion retailer, said on Thursday sales continued to recover in September as it reported a fiscal third-quarter profit that was slightly higher than a preliminary reading and analyst expectations.

Pretax profit at the Swedish retailer fell to 2.37 billion crowns ($265.6 million) from a year-earlier 5.01 billion.

Analysts polled by Refinitiv had on average forecast a 2.03 billion crown profit.

H&M had flagged in September that profit would land at around 2 billion crowns, much higher than feared as it recovered more quickly than expected from a pandemic-induced slump.