Debenhams profits from strong Christmas trading

Strong Christmas trading is expected to boost Debenhams' interim result results next Tuesday.

Pre-tax profits are expected to hit £91 (€148m), up from £81.3m (€132m).

There's also expected to be evidence of reduced debt - analysts are expecting it to drop by £20m (€32m).

A post-Christmas trading update by the group revealed 8.5% like-for-like sales growth during the 12 weeks to January 12.

For the same period last year, Debenhams reported like-for-like sales growth of about 5%.

Analysts are also hoping for continued evidence that margins are under control.

Tom Gadsby, of stockbrokers Williams de Broe, said: "There was a time when Debenhams would be on sale more often than not. This is no longer the case."