Dow Jones said that Hennes & Mauritz, the world's second-largest clothing retailer by sales, reported Friday a better than expected rise in second-quarter sales, defying bleak economic conditions for its main markets. 

Sales in the quarter rose to 31.66 billio kronor ($4.52 billion), from 27.63 billion kronor a year earlier. 

The Swedish retailer had 2,575 stores at May 31, up from 2,297 stores a year earlier, the newswire said. Its chief rival, Spain's Inditex, had 5,618 stores as of April 30.