Hennes & Mauritz, or H&M has announced better than expected sales figures for its first fiscal quarter - growing by 25 percent during the three month period, amounting to 40.3bn Swedish krona (€4.4bn).

Sales for February alone increased by 15 percent - this was the company's fifth consecutive month of double digit growth.

Yahoo Finance

Growth was expected to be closer to 13 percent during the month - markets have reacted favorably to the figures, H&M shares are up by 5.5 percent this morning.

The company's international performance has been bolstered by Sweden's weak krona.

H&M is investing heavily in e-commerce and area's like sportswear lines, designer collections, and its high-end COS brand to try to and stay ahead of fast-fashion competitors like Primark, Forever 21 who have been pushing prices down - and online retailers like ASOS who's market share continues to grow.