Primark bucks high street gloom

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Owner Associated British Foods said sales rose 18% in the 16 weeks to January 3, helped by an increase in selling space and "very good" like-for-like sales growth. The company said Primark traded ahead of its expectations, but it did not provide a figure for same-store sales.

Primark's performance compares favourably with Marks & Spencer, which reported a 8.9% fall in general merchandise sales for its third quarter. The discount fashion chain, which became known for its super-cheap clothes long before the arrival of the credit crunch, now has 187 stores following a sharp expansion in the UK and Spain in recent years.

Meanwhile, the owner of Argos and DIY chain Homebase has announced heavy sales falls for both businesses.

Home Retail Group said Argos like-for-like sales were 7.5% lower in the 18 weeks to January 3 and Homebase same-store sales dived 10.2%.

Currys and PC World owner DSG International also revealed a 10% drop in quarterly sales after shoppers put off purchases until after Christmas.

The group's UK and Ireland electricals business suffered a bigger decline in comparable sales in the 12 week period to January 10 - down 12%, while UK computing was off 13%.

The trend for consumers to wait until the January sales to snap up TVs and technology helped lift like-for-like sales in the final two weeks, ahead 2% across the group.

But DSG said it was braced for the negative sales trend to continue in a "challenging" 2009 and was cutting costs to offset the tough trading. It is trimming an extra £20 million from its cost base - bringing the total in the current year to £95 million.

Home Retail Group described the trading environment as turbulent, but said cost savings meant it remained on track for annual profits of around £320 million.