STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - H&M, the world's second-biggest listed fashion retailer, reported on Wednesday a larger-than-expected operating profit for the December-February period.

Operating profit in the Swedish group's fiscal first quarter was 2.08 billion crowns ($196.3 million), up from 725 million a year earlier, against a mean forecast of 1.43 billion in an LSEG poll of analysts.

H&M has said it aims to reach a 10% operating profit margin over the course of this year.

Measured in local currencies, H&M's sales from March 1 to 25 increased by 2%, the retailer said.

The Swedish fashion retailer, known for $19.99 jeans and dresses under $15, also sells leather trousers for more than $300 and, under its Cos brand, coats for as much as $1,190.

(This story has been refiled to add the missing word 'margin' in paragraph 3)

(Reporting by Marie Mannes in Stockholm and Helen Reid in London, editing by Anna Ringstrom and Louse Rasmussen)