Bonmarche had a shaky Christmas, with like-for-like sales across its 310 stores dropping by 1.3% in the 13 weeks to 26th December. This was balanced by a 3.9% rise in ecommerce, while total sales for the quarter increased by 3.4%.

In-store sales declined by 2.7% and online trading also fell 2.4% due to a challenging Christmas trading period. A profit warning was made by the retailer in December as store sales to date only rose by a mere 0.8%. Nevertheless sales for the 39 weeks to 26th December rose by 5.3%.

Bonmarche CEO, Beth Butterwick said: “As noted in our announcement on 16 December 2015, trading conditions during November and December were very challenging and as a result, the board revised its profit expectations for the current financial year. “In the short period since Christmas, demand has trended towards more normal levels. The board’s view of the expected outcome for the year is unchanged and it therefore reiterates its expectation that the PBT will be within the range of £10.5m to £12.0m.”

It was announced in December that Ms Butterwick would be leaving Bonmarche to join fashion retailer Karen Millen. It is unknown who she will be replaced by.