Department store chain Debenhams missed analysts’ forecasts, reporting a drop in overall sales of 0.8% despite seeing “record” sales in the run-up to Christmas.

In the four weeks to January 10th, Debenhams said that like-for-like sales were up 4.9% with a 28.9% rise in online sales. However, in the 19 weeks to January 10th, like-for-like sales fell 0.8%, coming in lower than expectations of just under 1% growth.

Debenhams said that “well-documented challenges” in the clothing market, including unseasonably warm weather, hit demand for traditional autumn products such as knitwear and coats. Michael Sharp, chief executive of Debenhams, said: “I am pleased with our performance in the critical Christmas trading weeks, driven by our strength in a diverse range of product categories and a strong marketing campaign focussed on gifting. Our performance steadily improved following the well documented challenges in the clothing market in the autumn.  We now have a competitive online proposition with next day delivery to home and next day click and collect, which customers took full advantage of and which performed well over Christmas. I would like to thank the whole Debenhams team for their tremendous efforts in delivering this performance.

"We continue to focus on building stable and sustainable profit growth and have made good progress on the five priorities we set out last year".