STOCKHOLM -(Dow Jones)- Hennes & Mauritz AB (HM-B.SK), the Sweden-based clothes retailer, said Thursday that same-store sales in February increased 2%, beating analysts' expectations of a drop of 1.6%. It added that the leap day in February boosted sales by three percentage points.

MAIN FACTS:

-Total sales in February rose 13%; analysts in a Dow Jones Newswires poll had expected an increase of 8%.

-Sales excluding VAT in the first quarter ended Feb. 29 rose about 13% to SEK27.83 billion ($4.05 billion) from SEK24.5 billion a year earlier; analysts had expected sales of SEK27.2 billion.

-Including VAT, sales in the first quarter amounted to SEK32.5 billion.

-Hennes & Mauritz had 2,491 stores on Feb. 29 compared with 2,212 stores at the end of February 2011.

-Shares in Hennes& Mauritz ended Wednesday at SEK243.90.

-By Jens Hansegard, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3095; jens.hansegard@dowjones.com