Britain’s second largest retailer remains bullish as profit forecasts exceed expectations.

Debenhams announced yesterday that its yearly pre-tax profit would likely rise by 20m per cent. The increase comes on the back of designer range performance and online sales.

The company predicted that it would hit the £150 million profit mark, with the recent trends of store expansion and discounting helping to fuel coffers by £3 million over what analysts had previously forecast. However, at stores that had been open to the public for at least one year, overall sales were flat compared with the previous 12 months.

Despite the unsteady consumer environment, which has seen the public sector suffer widespread job cuts, material costs rise and austerity measures hinder spending, Debenhams has been able to produce the upbeat estimate which covers the year until 28 August. Deputy chief executive for Debenhams, Michael Sharp, said the store was well placed to cope with what has been a challenging storm. Mr Sharp said the impending VAT rise was an obvious concern for all retailers, but that his company’s commitment to offering the right products at right prices had served them well in times of financial hardship. Mr Sharp also acknowledged that online sales had seen a significant rise, with many customers trending towards the time and money saving alternative.

With 160 stores across Britain and Ireland, Debenhams is the UK’s second largest sales retailer behind John Lewis, and also features stores in Denmark and over 60 franchised outlets overseas.

Britain’s second largest retailer remains bullish as profit forecasts exceed expectations.

Debenhams announced yesterday that its yearly pre-tax profit would likely rise by 20m per cent. The increase comes on the back of designer range performance and online sales.

The company predicted that it would hit the £150 million profit mark, with the recent trends of store expansion and discounting helping to fuel coffers by £3 million over what analysts had previously forecast. However, at stores that had been open to the public for at least one year, overall sales were flat compared with the previous 12 months.

Despite the unsteady consumer environment, which has seen the public sector suffer widespread job cuts, material costs rise and austerity measures hinder spending, Debenhams has been able to produce the upbeat estimate which covers the year until 28 August. Deputy chief executive for Debenhams, Michael Sharp, said the store was well placed to cope with what has been a challenging storm. Mr Sharp said the impending VAT rise was an obvious concern for all retailers, but that his company’s commitment to offering the right products at right prices had served them well in times of financial hardship. Mr Sharp also acknowledged that online sales had seen a significant rise, with many customers trending towards the time and money saving alternative.

With 160 stores across Britain and Ireland, Debenhams is the UK’s second largest sales retailer behind John Lewis, and also features stores in Denmark and over 60 franchised outlets overseas.

The discount fashion chain store that became a success story on high street has had its bubble burst.

Primark, whose expansion drive has placed them on many British shopping lists, has reported slow summer sales as consumer confidence took a battering.

Shares in Associated British Foods (AB Foods), the firm’s parent group, fell 1.5 per cent as the news became known of marked slowdown in sales growth.

While full-year budgets and profit earnings for the retailer are still on track to beat forecasts, Primark warned that tough times lie ahead as increased living costs and the impending VAT changes would spell trouble times in 2011. The fashion industry is now bracing itself for the next round of sales updates from fellow high street staples Next and Debenhams, due out next week, with analysts anticipating that similar grim outlooks will be commonplace.

The Primark chain, which consists of 204 retail outlets, makes up one-third of the group’s profit at AB Foods. Its like-for-like sales slowed in the three months till mid-September by around 4 per cent, meaning the year now sits at an increase of 6 per cent following the 8 per cent first half performance.

John Bason, AB Foods finance director, said that the previous fourth quarter sales, made longer by an Indian summer in 2009, meant that the last quarter showed a decline of closer to ten per cent. Bason added that Primark would remain cautious in the way it handled the outlook and the UK consumer.

Leading fashion magazine Grazia is set to debut its own internet television service.

Bauer Media has unveiled plans to launch the online service, which will see showbiz and fashion covered on the new offering Grazia TV. The concept will initially involve the streaming of weekly webisodes which will provide a roundup of all the latest entertainment, beauty and fashion stories that have made headlines, while also featuring the magazine’s ‘Ten Hot Stories’ section.

Written and edited by Hattie Brett, Grazia’s senior editor, Bauer Media’s Julian Linly conceived the web series, which will be produced by Signal TV. Set for launch on September 17, the 13-week Grazia TV series will also feature on YouTube and the Grazia Daily website. The launch coincides with the iconic London Fashion Week, with Estee Lauder due to be aired in association with brand content from the makeup giant.

Jane Bruton, Grazia editor-in-chief, said the latest innovation was pursued for some time by the group, which seeks to filter editorial content to create moving footage on a whole new platform for fans. Paul Keenan, the chief executive at Bauer, said that the potent brand name of Grazia and the following of Estee Lauder was the perfect launch pad for the new TV service, which will bring the magazine an entirely new audience online and around the world. Keenan also said he expects to see such fashion partnerships quickly extending to other brands.

Celebrity uber-babe Pamela Anderson has brought sexy selling to the mobile phone market.

Clearly enjoying her role as a scantily clad sex kitten, Anderson has stripped down to her saucy yet classy lingerie in a photo shoot which celebrates the launch of a new competition by mobile giant Nokia.

Resplendent in a range of dazzling underwear, the buxom actress who gained worldwide acclaim for her roles on Baywatch and in bed with former husband, rocker Tommy Lee, can be seen in varying stages of recline in a sumptuous hotel suite. Excitable readers will be overjoyed that one lucky winner will soon be joining her for a short film in the bedroom – all in good taste – called The Commuter.

Her competition-winning co-star will have Nokia to thank as the mobile phone company celebrates the soon-to-be-launched new N8 handset, which will capture all the action of Anderson, 43, and her companion. As if this wasn’t enough, the film will also have its own London premier alongside another similar feature that will star an additional lucky entrant in their own scene with Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl fame – although this one will be shot in an elevator.

Nokia said that they has tried to create something special with the new competition, one which it hopes will highlight the quality of the camera in the new N8 handset. Anderson is currently touring the UK as part of the promotion for her new role as the Genie at the Liverpool Empire Theatre’s production of Aladdin.