The White Company doubled its operating profit to £4.5m in the 53 weeks to March 31 and said the momentum continued into the new financial year as it delivered a “strong” Christmas.

The fashion and homewares retailer generated sales up 14% to £116m in the full year period.

Chief executive Will Kernan said the performance was “satisfactory against a challenging retail environment”.

In the year the retailer opened six new stores and relocated its head office to Kensington. It also invested in its e-commerce and IT systems.

Since year-end, The White Company has opened two more stores. The retailer described its overall performance this financial year as “positive”.

Trading across its Christmas period was “strong”, as sales rose 13% in the eight weeks to December 22. The retailer achieved higher gross margins as it reduced its levels of promotional activity.

The White Company has appointed former Ann Summers chief financial officer Phil Clarke as its chief financial officer, following the hire of retail director Steve Morris in July and chief executive Kernan in February. Kernan joined from New Look where he was chief operating officer.

Kernan said: Since joining the business, we have been focused on enhancing our performance through a number of activities, including new customer recruitment, driving conversion across all channels, focus on delivering efficiency savings and improving our service propositions to even greater heights. We are pleased with the recent progress being made across all channels and look forward to continued growth in 2013.”