H&M's recovery gathered pace in the third quarter as profits jumped after the fashion retailer sharpened its online presence.

The Swedish company hailed an upbeat set of results which it said was also driven by a reduction in heavy discounting.

Pre-tax profits jumped 25% to 5 billion Swedish krona (£411 million) in the three months to August, pushing ahead of analysts' forecasts.

Profitability improved on the back of a 12% jump in group sales for the quarter to 62.5 billion Swedish krona (£5.1 billion).

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Sales growth was driven by 27% growth in the US, its second largest market, while UK sales rose by a more modest 3% to 3.8 billion krona (£312 million).

The company was also heavily boosted by a 30% jump in online sales, as it invested more money into improving its digital proposition to take on rivals such as Asos.

After coming under pressure from rival retailers, particularly Zara-owner Inditex, H&M has started a recovery strategy focused on reducing inventory levels and discounting.

However, the retailer said it expects 120 net store openings by the end of 2019, falling short of previous expectations.

H&M added that its has made a "promising start" to the new season, with a "positive reception" from customers to its early autumn collections.

Chief executive Karl-Johan Persson said: "Well-received summer collections and increased market share show that we are on the right track with our transformation work to meet customers' ever-increasing expectations.

"Looking ahead, we remain humble considering the challenges brought by the rapid shift in fashion retail. Our transformation work is therefore continuing at a fast pace in all parts of the company.

"We are convinced that this will contribute to positive development for the H&M group for many years to come."

Spread betting firm CMC Markets saw shares bounce higher after it told investors that it expects profits for next year to be higher than the previous year.

The London-listed company raised its guidance after it stabilised in the first half of the year following a tough period of regulatory changes and quiet market conditions.

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CMC said it expects operating income of more than £170 million for the full year, up from £130.8 million a year earlier.

The company suffered low client numbers due to lower market volatility, while rule changes in Europe were introduced in August 2018 which reduced the level of risk for retail customers.

Shares in the company were up 7.5% to 114p.

London-listed mining giant Centamin has announced that its chief executive Andrew Pardey is set to quit the business after a year beset by operational challenges

Shares in the gold miner dived after it said Mr Pardey would leave the company in a year's time.

His departure comes after the company struggled to boost production at its Sukari gold mine in Egypt.

The company also reiterated that third-quarter production has been lower than expected.

Centamin said it has launched its recruitment search for the new chief executive and thanked Mr Pardey for his 12-year stint working at the firm.

Josef El-Raghy, chairman of Centamin, said he looks forward to working with the exiting chief during the transition period to restore operational consistency at the Sukari site.

Shares in the company were down 12.9% at 108.8p.