John Lewis has announced plans to repay £300m in government loans following strong Christmas trading.

The department store will be paying the loan two months earlier than it was due to be repaid thanks to stronger than expected sales over the Christmas period.

John Lewis said in a statement: “Despite the headwinds of the last year when John Lewis stores were closed for several months, and future trading volatility, the partnership believes it has sufficient liquidity [to repay the loan early],”

“Trading during the peak, which includes Black Friday and the Christmas period, held up better than anticipated. As a result, we expect our full-year profits to be ahead of profit guidance provided at our half-year results last September, where we said the most likely outcome would be for a small loss or a small profit for 2020-21.”

Whilst the department store has said it will be repaying the loan, it has still refused to repay the business rates relief received.

In November, the group revealed plans for a £300m cost-cutting drive, which involved cutting 1,500 head office jobs.

Sharon White, the chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said: “Our partnership plan sets a course to create a thriving and sustainable business for the future. To achieve this we must be agile and able to adapt quickly to the changing needs of our customers.

“Losing partners is incredibly hard as an employee-owned business. Wherever possible, we will seek to find new roles in the partnership and we’ll provide the best support and retraining opportunities for partners who leave us.”

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Next has pulled out of plans to buy Arcadia’s Topshop.

In a statement, the retailer said it had “withdrawn from the process to acquire any or all of the Arcadia Group from the administrator”, adding “our consortium has been unable to meet the price expectations of the vendor”.

“Next wishes the administrator and future owners well in their endeavours to preserve an important part of the UK retail sector,” it added.

Other retailers that are in the race to purchase Topshop include Chinese online fashion retailer, Shein, and Authentic Brands. It is also thought that Asos and Boohoo are involved in the conversation.

Shein put an offer of £300m for Topshop and Topman, whilst it is running another process for some other of Arcadia’s brands.

Arcadia’s brands include Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Miss Selfridge and Burton. Evans has already been sold to City Chic Collective in a £23m deal.

Sir Philip Green bought Arcadia for £850m in 2002, Its collapse was one of the high streets biggest casualties, putting 13,000 jobs at risk.

Ian Grabiner, the chief executive of Arcadia, said in November when the group fell into administration: “This is an incredibly sad day for all of our colleagues as well as our suppliers and our many other stakeholders.

“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the forced closure of our stores for prolonged periods, has severely impacted on trading across all of our brands. Throughout this immensely challenging time, our priority has been to protect jobs and preserve the financial stability of the group in the hope that we could ride out the pandemic and come out fighting on the other side. Ultimately, however, in the face of the most difficult trading conditions we have ever experienced, the obstacles we encountered were far too severe.”

UK retail sales increased by 0.3% in December – much lower than the 1.2% rise expected by economists.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics also showed that despite an online boom, retail sales fell 0.4% in the fourth quarter.

Looking at 2020 as a whole, online sales boomed and hit record highs, however, retail sales in total fell 1.9% compared to 2019. This is the biggest yearly drop on record.

Over 2020, clothing sales were down 25.1%, petrol stations were down 22.2% and department stores fell 5.2%. Online sales and mail order sales saw a record increase of 32% over 2020.

Internet sales at food stores shot up 79.3%, department stores were up 65.9% and household goods stores up 73.4%.

“December’s retail sales increased slightly, driven by an improved month for clothing sales, as the easing of some lockdown measures for parts of the month meant more stores were able to open,” said Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for Economic Statistics. “Food store sales this month were subdued as retailers reported lockdowns and restrictions on the sale of non-essential items impacted on footfall. “

“Retail sales for 2020 saw their largest annual fall in history as the impact of the pandemic took its toll. Clothing retailers fared particularly badly, with a record annual fall of over 25%, while movement restrictions led to a record year-on-year decline for fuel sales.

“Some sectors were able to buck the trend in 2020. The increased popularity of click and collect and people buying more items from home led to a strong year for overall internet sales, with record highs for food and household goods sales online,” he added.

In separate news, government borrowing continues at a record pace. In December, the government borrowed £34.1bn.

Paul Craig, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors, commented: “With Brexit concluded, albeit rather weakly, and the vaccine rollout well underway, Rishi Sunak may be receiving the message from the backbenchers that the time is right to bring the borrowing under control.”

Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) has posted a 15% fall in revenue in the three months to 31 December 2020.

The owner of the Daily Mail and the Metro said revenue fell to £304m. Advertising revenues decreased by 16% and the group saw print advertising fall by 38%.

Digital advertising increased by 8%.

Looking ahead, DMGT said: “The duration and severity of the Covid-19 pandemic remains unclear at this stage, despite the hope that vaccination programmes will enable lockdowns around the world to be eased over time. Consequently, the short-term outlook for the UK Property Information, Consumer Media and Events & Exhibitions businesses remains difficult to predict, albeit the dynamics outlined in DMGT’s FY 2020 results release on 23 November 2020 remain the same.

“The Board is confident that DMGT’s diversified portfolio is well-positioned to continue to withstand the present uncertainties and that its long-term approach will continue to create value for its shareholders.”

Shares were 0.9% lower at 813p during mid-morning trading on Thursday.

Pets at Home has reported a 18% jump in revenue for the third quarter of 2020.

Revenue surged to £302m whilst like-for-like sales seeing a 17.6% over the the 12 week period from 9 October to 31 December 2020

Based on trading year to date, the group expects full-year underlying pre-tax profits of £77m.

Members of the VIP and Puppy and Kitten Clubs grew by 47%, with members spending around 25% more than non members.

Peter Pritchard, Pets at Home CEO, said: “Against a backdrop of continued uncertainty our pet care model remains robust, with our performance during the third quarter testament not only to the advantages of our scalable omnichannel pet care platform and unique joint venture veterinary model, but also the hard work and commitment of all our colleagues across the Group, to whom I express sincere thanks.

“We entered our final quarter facing renewed challenges in the form of higher COVID infection rates and restrictions on a national level, and our priority remains the health, safety and wellbeing of all of our colleagues, partners and customers.

I am very pleased with the progress we have made in this quarter, in particular how we have adapted to the changing environment in which we operate. We remain as determined as ever to create the best pet care platform in the world, and our strong liquidity gives us the capacity to make the right investments to support our ambition”.

Pets at Home shares are trading +1.58% at 409,58 (1002GMT).

Ross Hindle, retail sector analyst at Third Bridge, commented on the strong Q3 results: “Pets at Home is continuing to benefit from a rise in pet ownership during the pandemic and a growing trend of pet food premiumisation. Growth in high margin pet food has flowed through into pet accessories, as consumers look to humanize and spoil their new 4-legged friends.”