Luxury store strong in clothing and beauty
Landmark London department store Harrods has posted a 24 per cent increase in operating profits.

The retailer also unveiled strong divisional performances this morning. Sales in beauty rose by 11 per cent, womenswear sales were up 9 per cent and menswear notched up an increase of 5 per cent on the same period last year.

Pre-tax profit climbed to£23.9 million for the year to January 29, from£19.9 million last year. Harrods chairman Mohamed Al Fayed said: 'I was very pleased with the performance of the store during the last financial year and my continued investment into the business alongside the evolution of the brand mix have both been important in achieving these figures.

'Harrods has been presented with the same set of challenges as the rest of the industry during this financial year, but, with our busiest two months of the year still to come, we are already outperforming last year.'