Sales at clothing retailer Primark jumped by 18 per cent in the 16 weeks to 7 January to £3.15 billion , thanks to strong sales over the festive season.

Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods said that Primark had a record week in the Christmas period, with like-for-like sales in the UK increasing by 11 per cent and exceeding expectations.

In Europe, excluding the UK, sales rose 16 per cent, while in the US sales increased by four per cent.

The company said traffic to its website has increased 85 per cent with double the pages viewed compared to the previous year. It plans to roll out its new website to Germany, Spain and the US in the coming months.

Primark plans to open 17 more stores this year, including its first ones in Slovakia and Hungary, adding around one million square feet of retail space.

Despite the increase in sales, Primark said that profit margins were lower than in the same period last year due to rising inflation, the strengthening of the US dollar and higher costs of freight labour and energy.

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