The owner of the Superdry fashion label saw shares rise in early trading on the back of impressive Christmas trading results.

SuperGroup shares were up 17.50p, or 3.18 per cent, to 568.50p at 9.46am.

The group, which runs 72 Cult and Superdry stores in the UK, announced a 5.8 per cent increase in total like-for-like retail sales for the nine weeks to 1 January 2012 and a 9.3 per cent rise in December.

Total group sales were up 22 per cent over the period to £79 million, while total retail sales soared 28 per cent to £66 million.

Wholesale sales for the period were 4 per cent lower at £13 million.

SuperGroup stressed that year-to-date wholesale sales were up 54 per cent and claimed that this reflected the different phasing of supplier deliveries and 'the natural migration of sales in the UK to the growing estate of owned stores'.

The Cheltenham-based group saw shares plunge by nearly a quarter in October last year after it was forced to open temporary warehousing to combat teething problems with a new stock ordering system.

Last month SuperGroup confirmed that it expected the blunder to cost in the region of £9 million.

Commenting on the results, chief executive Julian Dunkerton said, 'We are pleased to report a solid Christmas period when set against the difficult economic climate, our own distribution issues in the autumn and our exceptionally strong Christmas sales last year.

'Overall, our retail business has seen an improving sales trend as our stores became better stocked following the resolution of our warehouse issues and the continued demand for our products and brand. We have also successfully opened one floor of our Regent Street store,' he added.