Marks & Spencer broke free of two years of struggle to report a "good Christmas" including record sales.
The premium retailer posted its first like-for-like sales growth in more than two years and enjoyed record one-day sales of £50 million on December 23.
It grew same-store sales by 0.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to December 26 and M&S said the first day of its sales on December 27 would have added a further one per cent to like-for-like sales growth.
Food sales were 0.4 per cent up on the previous year as shoppers stocked up on Christmas goods.
M&S was trading against far easier comparisons than in 2008, when it registered a 7.1 per cent fall in same-store sales at the height of the recession - its worst performance since 1999.
The growth continues the run of improving sales trends seen since then, despite a difficult year for the business.
It added that it expected trading to remain challenging this year due to "continuing economic uncertainty".
Executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose said: "We believe… that customers will continue to seek out real value and quality for which we are justly famous."
But Paul Mumford, senior fund manager at Cavendish Asset Management said: “Despite the psychological turning-point of seeing Marks & Spencer return to growth after two years in the wilderness, today’s weak uplift in sales will fail to convince investors that the foundations for a rebound are in place. The figures serve only to underline the problematic market position of Marks & Spencer in recessionary Britain. This is particularly apparent within its food division, which is only now starting to address the competition of supermarkets and a premium brand that does not play well in Britain’s new age of austerity.
“Even if M&S had met analysts’ initial hopes of 1.2 per cent growth, investors would have had good cause to stay their hand. Not only were comparatives incredibly weak, but December’s singular cold snap is ideal for the functional, comfort and quality knits of M&S over more fashion-focused High Street rivals. Put simply, we are not yet seeing a long-term growth story re-emerge. Today’sfigures are too anaemic to get the market to swing behind an M&S revival, and in particular support the equity raising that some have touted as necessary to fund future growth.”
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