World No.2 fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz posted fourth-quarter profits slightly below expectations on Wednesday and said it would launch a new beauty care concept.

Pretax profit grew to 7.80 billion Swedish crowns ($952.7 million) in the three months to the end of November.

That compared with 7.26 billion crowns a year earlier and a mean forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts of 7.96 billion crowns.

H&M, which has invested heavily in recent years in new concepts to broaden its offer and in online expansion, said most new stores will open in China and the US.