Upmarket department store chain Neiman Marcus has announced impressive preliminary results for its fourth quarter and full year for 2011. Net sales at the retailer rocketed 11.3% in the fourth quarter to $920m (£564.4m). In the same period, Neiman Marcus Direct revenues were 11% above last year.

Like-for-like sales for the full year increased 8.1%, while total group sales grew 8.4% to $4bn (£2.5bn). Neiman Marcus Direct sales were 11% above the previous year. The strong growth in sales has been made despite discretionary spending in the US at a low.