STOCKHOLM, June 27 (Reuters) - H&M, the world's second-biggest listed fashion retailer, reported on Thursday a smaller-than-expected rise in March-May operating profit and said June sales were expected to fall.

Operating profit in March through May, the Swedish group's second quarter, was 7.1 billion Swedish crowns ($672.5 million) against a year-earlier 4.74 billion and a mean forecast in an LSEG

poll

of analyst of 7.37 billion.

Sales for the month of June 2024 are expected to decrease by 6% in local currencies compared with the same period last year, partly due to unstable weather in many of the group's large markets, H&M said. (Reporting by Marie Mannes, editing by Terje Solsvik)