Jessops has reported a strong performance over Christmas despite the “challenging market conditions”.

The camera specialist reported like-for-like sales up 3.1 per cent for the five weeks ending January 5. However, the retailer said its margins were affected over the Christmas period.

For the 14-week period to January 5, like-for-like sales were down 5.6 per cent.

Jessops will reveal its preliminary results for the year ending September 30, 2008, later this month and the board confirmed it expects to deliver in line with its previous guidance that EBITDA for the year will be more than£4.4 million.