Swedish retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB, which has begun a major push into the Southern California marketplace including new stores planned in the San Fernando Valley, today reported that its third quarter earnings rose 18 percent to the equivalent of $347 million. H & M;, which in recent weeks opened its first Southern California store in Pasadena and is due to open in Westfield’s Topanga mall later this year, said sales rose 11 percent to the $2.3 billion for the quarter ended Aug. 31. In August, sales at H & M; rose 15 percent and volumes at stores open at least a year jumped 5 percent. That beat analyst’s expectations of a 12 percent August sales increase and a 2.9 percent increase in same store sales.
