Gap said that comparable store sales across its group were flat for the four weeks to November 28, compared with a decrease of 10% in November last year.

Total sales for the US fashion giant grew 2% in November to $1.42bn.

International sales were down 5% in November, compared with a drop of 6% in November 2008.

In the US, Gap’s Banana Republic stores saw a like-for-like sales growth of 4%, up from a like-for-like sales decline of 11% last October. Old Navy was up 6% compared to a 9% decline last November and the Gap fascia was down 5% on a comparable basis.

Gap chief financial officer Sabrina Simmons said: “We’re pleased that we continued to meet our objective of improving our sales trend and we did it with merchandise margins significantly above last year.”