House of Fraser, which has two department stores in Kent, has reported robust sales over Christmas.

Despite difficult trading conditons, the upmarket chain with prominent anchor stores in Bluewater and Fremlin Walk, Maidstone, said total sales for the five weeks to January 3 were up 4.5 per cent on the same period a year ago, although like-for-like sales fell 1.5 per cent

House of Fraser, which is owned by private equity group Highland Acquisitions, said marketing was more aggressive in response to tougher high street conditions.

It said stock management had improved, with inventories cut by a further 10 per cent.

Chairman Don McCarthy said: "There is no doubt that the retail sector has experienced one of its toughest years to date. However, our performance over the Christmas period was positive and we are satisfied with the robustness of our business. "

He warned that the outlook for 2009 remained challenging and under-perfoming brands would "leave" the business, while those performing well would grow.

He said: "The outlook for 2009 remains challenging and we will continue to focus on managing our business accordingly."