Hennes & Mauritz is examining Australia, Brazil and South Africa as possible new markets in which to expand, as the Swedish purveyor of cheap chic plans to open a record number of stores this year.

H&M expects to open 325 shops this year after 304 in 2012, itself ahead of its initial target of 275. High expansion costs caused the group to post the latest in a series of earnings that came in slightly below analysts’ expectations.

H&M said total sales in January were likely to be about 5 per cent higher than a year earlier, with analysts suggesting that meant sales had shrunk in its existing stores.

Pre-tax profits in the fourth quarter – September-November for H&M – were SKr6.6 billion, lower than the consensus forecast of unchanged earnings of SKr6.8bn. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013