Department store Debenhams has reported a rise in sales despite what it calls "extremely challenging market conditions".
This, together with the downbeat comments about the year ahead, pushed Debenhams shares down 7.7% on Tuesday.
During the first half of the year Debenhams opened two stores in the Philippines and one in Iran.
Next saw a 3.9% rise in sales, and John Lewis and Debenhams sales were also up.
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He added that retailers such as Debenhams had to strike a "hard balance".
Debenhams, which runs 145 stores across the UK and Ireland, also revealed more recent evidence of the slowing economy.
However, Debenhams said it believed that its second-half forecasts were "robust" and that sales would continue to grow as expected.
Debenhams shares have lost 50% of their value since November last year when they were trading at about 120 pence.
On Tuesday, Debenhams reported record sales in December, while on Monday House of Fraser posted its "highest ever" festive sales.
"I am delighted with our strong performance and the progress we have made in 2012, " said Debenhams chief executive Michael Sharp.
Debenhams also has fewer physical assets underpinning its increased debt these days.
Tenants earmarked for the new development include Marks and Spencer and Debenhams.
Debenhams said it was in the process of building 14 new stores and was in talks to over 25 other possible sites.
Up to 230 jobs could be lost from the Debenhams call centre in Taunton under plans to move the work to Leeds.
The latest recruits are Belinda Earl, the former Debenhams and Jaeger boss, and Janie Schaffer, who formerly worked at lingerie chain Victoria's Secret.
Nicole Wevers waited patiently with hundreds of other residents while police forensics experts combed the streets around the looted Debenhams in Clapham Junction.
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For example, Debenhams, a department store, said this week that members of its scheme would stop accruing benefits at the end of October.
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While Debenhams reported sales for the five weeks to 5 January keeping in line with inflation, it showed that online grew by 46%.
Ms. Kiely got her first major break in 1997, when she worked with U.K. department store Debenhams to develop an exclusive collection for the store.
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Shares in department store Debenhams have fallen 14% after the firm said bad weather in January would dent its profits for the first half of 2013.
Debenhams said it would pay a final dividend of 0.5 pence a share, meaning its total for the year is 3p, down from 6.3p last year.
The crowds were asked to wait for quite a while and we were watching the fire engines putting out the fire at the party shop opposite Debenhams.
"We have experienced an increase in customer enquiries and volumes are expected to rapidly grow in the next three years, " said Carie Barkhuizen, a spokeswoman for Debenhams.
"Debenhams historically under punched its weight in that 15-34 age group, " admits Mr Woodhouse, arguing that new ranges from Jasper Conran and Matthew Williamson have begun to redress the balance.
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Neil Saunders, managing director of retail analysts Conlumino, said promotions and store refurbishments had helped Debenhams to "buck the market this summer and gain market share across a number of clothing categories".
Other leading department stores in Europe include Galeries Lafayette (3.4 billion Euros), Debenhams (3.4 billion Euros), Karstadt (3.3 billion Euros), Manor (2.4 billion Euros), Printemps (1.5 billion Euros) and House of Fraser (1.4 billion Euros).
Thousands of people gathered from shortly after midnight at major shopping centres around the country, such as Westfield in London, Bluewater in Kent and Birmingham's Bullring, where Debenhams, Selfridges and Next were offering discounts of up to 50%.
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