Stockholm: H&M on Friday reported a nine-fold increase in profit for 2021 as sales at the Swedish clothing giant rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. “We ended the year strongly, with sales back at the same level as before the pandemic and with profitability better than it has been for several years,” Chief Executive Officer Helena Helmersson said in a statement accompanying the annual report. “Now that we are back to a more normalized situation with a strong financial position and good profitability, we can fully focus on growth again,” she said. Net profit stood at 11 billion kronor (1.05 billion euros, $1.17 billion) for the period from December 2020 to November 2021, compared with 1.2 billion kronor for the same period the previous year.