The year of 2013 is the year of H&M. Just as all-time rival Zara reported mediocre earnings this latest quarter, it appears H&M is cruising to the coveted number one spot in the world of large retailers.

The list of H&M’s fruitful successes is manifold. Let’s start with numbers. H&M reported a third quarter net profit of 690 million, marking a 22% increase from the same quarter in 2012. Investors saw the window of H&M opportunity and elevated the retailer’s share price by 6%, an absolute all time-high. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of what is to come for H&M – the Swedish company expects earnings to keep skyrocketing. With aggressive (and successful) expansion on the global stage, I would say that is a perfectly viable expectation. H&M recently opened its 3000th store in China, 200 of which were mind-blowingly opened within the past nine months. H&M also had thriving openings this year of new stores in Lithuania, Serbia, Chile and Estonia. Compared to 2012, sales jumped 8% in Germany, 13% in France, 37% in China, 46% in Japan, and, well, you get the point. The cherry on top of this mountain of retail success? CEO Persson described the August debut of an online store in the U.S. as being “very well received by customers” and stated the company’s “offering stands up well in the world’s largest online market”.

H&M’s stupendous succes is undeniable. What is even harder to refute is the precarious retail ranking Zara holds as of this year, thanks to their long time Swedish rival. A word to Zara: sleep with one retail eye open.

Read the full stories here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/h-m-s-profit-up-22-on-strong-sales-at-new-stores-1.1869141

Picture also from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24280262