FACTBOX-How Britain's retailers fared over Christmas

British retailers are giving updates on Christmas trading, by far their busiest and most important period of the year, stretching from "Black Friday" on Nov. 23 to early January clearance sales.

Investors had been braced for bad news after a major profit warning from the one-time online darling ASOS Plc last month capped a torrid year for the sector marred by shop closures and bankruptcies.

On the high street the run up to Christmas was marked by discounting while the number of shoppers hitting the shops after Dec. 25 fell on previous years.

Following are the highlights:

Reported on Jan. 9.

J Sainsbury Plc

Sainsbury's reported a worse-than-expected fall in Christmas sales, confirming that Britain's second-largest supermarket group has fallen behind competitors as it battles to acquire smaller rival Asda.

Reported on Jan. 9.

Mothercare Plc's

Mothercare Plc's third-quarter group sales slipped 18 percent on lower online sales of baby products and fewer discounts, which led to a double digit dip in UK like-for-like revenue.

Reported on Jan. 9

Ted Baker Plc

Fashion retailer Ted Baker reported higher sales in the holiday period, boosted by a surge in online demand and said it was "business as usual" at the brand as an investigation into reports related to the conduct of its founder continue.

Reported on Jan. 9

Majestic Wine Plc

British wine retailer Majestic Wine said sales during the Christmas season grew 6.8 percent, boosted by strength in its Naked Wines business.

Reported on Jan. 9

Topps Tiles Plc

Britain's biggest tile retailer Topps Tiles said comparable revenues for the first 13 weeks of the financial year fell 1.4 percent.

Reported on Jan. 9

Nichols Plc

Vimto soft drinks maker Nichols said that it expects to report full-year profit above last year, boosted by higher sales of its beverages in the UK and growth in the African market.

Reported on Jan. 8

WM Morrison Supermarket Plc

Morrison, Britain's fourth largest supermarket group, missed Christmas sales forecasts as weak consumer demand hit its retail and wholesale businesses.

Reported on Jan. 8

Footasylum Plc

British fashion retailer Footasylum Plc warned that its full-year core earnings would come in at the lower end of analysts' estimates, hit by lower margins and likely charges from a future cost savings initiative.

Reported on Jan. 8

Joules Group Plc

British lifestyle brand, Joules Group reported a 11.7 percent rise in retail sales for the seven-week period to Jan. 6, boosted by higher online sales.

Reported on Jan. 7

Aldi UK

Aldi UK, the British arm of the German discount supermarket, said its sales increased around 10 percent to almost 1 billion pounds ($1.28 billion) in December, driven by increased demand for its premium ranges.

Reported on Jan. 7

Dunelm Group Plc

Homeware retailer Dunelm Group said it expects higher pretax profit for the first half of the year and forecast full-year pretax profit above the top range of analysts' estimates if the industry continues to grow at its current pace.

Reported on Jan. 3

Next Plc

A late surge in online demand helped British clothing retailer Next to increase sales in the Christmas period, confounding fears of tough festive trading and lifting shares across the battered sector.

Reported on Jan. 2

John Lewis

John Lewis said sales in its department stores rose 4.5 percent in the week ending Dec. 29, boosted by strong demand on Christmas Eve and "a confident start to post-Christmas clearance both online and in shops".

Reported on Dec. 29

HMV

Music retailer HMV called in the administrators for the second time in five years after it said demand for CDs and DVDs was disappearing. One of the best known names on the high street, it plans to keep the business running while it tries to find a buyer. (Reporting by Kate Holton, Noor Zainab Hussain and Samantha Machado Editing by Keith Weir, Bernard Orr and Shounak Dasgupta)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)