Swedish retailer H&M will not expand its standalone Divided fascia because of doubts over whether it works well as a separate concept.

H&M investor relations manager Nils Vinge said: “In our experience we think it works better within H&M and we won’t bring out other concepts from within H&M stores.”

The retailer said it has no intention of closing the five Divided stores it runs across Europe.

H&M – which revealed last week that profits soared 11 per cent to SEK21.9bn (£1.85bn) in the year to November 30 – opened its first Divided store in the UK at Camden in north London last April.

The Swedish fashion giant will continue with international expansion plans for its eponymous stores, with 225 set to open this year, creating up to 7,000 jobs.

This year H&M, which expects sales for January to be up 8 per cent on last year, will also launch a homewares offer.

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