Department store group Debenhams today posted record Christmas sales, driven by a jump in online trade and a step-up in promotions.
The group said that sales at stores open over a year, rose 5% in the five weeks to January 5.
Like-for-like sales in the 18 weeks to January 5 - a big chunk of the firm's fiscal first half - were up 2.9%.
That compares to analysts' consensus forecast for the first half to the end of February of an increase of 2%.
The growth was boosted by strong demand online, with sales over the 18 weeks up 39%, ahead of the firm's expectations. However it also had to rely on promotions to draw in the customers.
Debenhams said the overall market had seen more promotions than the prior year which resulted in some increase in its own promotional activity in the run-up to Christmas.
As a result, it now expects gross margin for the 2012-13 year to be 10 basis points higher than last year rather than 20 basis points previously guided.
"We continue to believe that whilst consumers have become acclimatised to the new economic reality, we don't anticipate a significant change in consumer confidence in the remainder of the year," the company's chief executive Michael Sharp said.
Many store groups are finding the going tough as consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on incomes.
Debenhams has generally bucked the gloomy trend, helped by its breadth of products, appeal to a wide range of customers, multiple routes to market and well received marketing campaign.
The firm's variety of product categories, with a core clothing offer supplemented by accessories, homewares and health and beauty, means it is also less exposed than other retailers to the vagaries of Britain's weather.
Separately today an industry survey said British retail sales rose 0.3% in December. With annual consumer price inflation currently running at 2.7%, this suggests that stores sold less in real terms, increasing the chance that Britain's economy slipped back into contraction in the last three months of 2012.
Last week Next, Britain's No. 2 clothing retailer, reported a 3.9% rise in total sales for the eight weeks to December 24 and raised its year profit guidance. However, clothing market leader Marks & Spencer is forecast to report a further decline in general merchandise sales when it updates on its third quarter on Thursday.
