STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) (>> H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB) is expected to post a fall in comparable sales in February for a fifth straight month, a Reuters poll of analysts showed on Monday.

The mean forecast was for a 2 percent year-on-year drop in local currencies at stores open at least a year, in line with the overall apparel market decline in the Swedish fashion retailer's biggest market, Germany.

Total sales in February, the last month of H&M's first quarter, were seen up 7 percent in local currencies. H&M is due to post the figures on March 15.

H&M, which lags Zara owner Inditex (>> Inditex SA) in size, has been hit by weak consumer spending in Europe, where it has the bulk of its business.

First-quarter turnover, which H&M unveils together with the monthly data ahead of full quarterly earnings due on March 21, was seen at 29.0 billion crowns (3.0 billion pounds), up 4 percent.

Analysts from ABG Sundal Collier, Barclays Capital, Carnegie, Cheuvreux, Deutsche Bank, DNB Markets, Grupo Santander, Handelsbanken Capital Markets, HSBC, JRS Securities, Nordea, SEB Enskilda, Societe Generale and Swedbank took part in the poll.

Data for Reuters Nordics earnings polls are compiled by Inquiry Financial.

(Writing by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Jason Neely)

Stocks treated in this article : H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB, Inditex SA