Gross margins fell 0.4 per cent to 42.5 per cent for the same period, but total sales were up 5.8 per cent against the same period last year.
The retailer said that pre-tax profits would be in line with the board's expectations at the time of the January trading statement.
It blamed mild weather before Christmas and the impact of integrating its Roches stores for the fall in margin. Seven of the nine Roches shops have been converted to Debenhams.
Chief executive Rob Templeman said: 'Although it is far too early to draw conclusions on the performance of our spring/summer ranges, we have been encouraged by the customer reaction to our collections. We continue to expect the retail environment to remain challenging and we will focus on managing our stocks, costs and cash margins.'
Debenhams has 132 department stores and seven smaller format Desire stores. It has 32 international stores. In the next financial year, it will open seven department stores and relocate three shops.
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