The Harry Potter school hoodies boosting Primark

HARRY Potter-inspired clothing and pink flamingo pool inflatables helped Primark avoid the pitfalls of its High Street rivals.

The retailer said its profits for the full year will be ‘well ahead’ of the year before after its novelty items proved a hit with shoppers.

Primark sells a range of Harry Potter clothing and homeware, including £12 hoodies displaying the name of the different Hogwarts boarding houses, £10 jogging bottoms and £6 Harry Potter mugs. Its £9 flamingo inflatables, which it sold in stores over the summer, also proved particularly popular with shoppers.

associated British Foods, which owns Primark, said that it expects sales for the year to September 16 to be 13pc ahead of the £13.4bn it made last year – with a 1pc rise in like-for-like sales.

Its strong forecast comes despite a slowdown on the High Street, which has suffered as more customers turn to shopping online. Rivals new look, Top Shop and marks & Spencer have all posted slumping sales this year after failing to tap into popular trends.

But ABF finance boss John Bason said the retailer has managed to avoid the pitfalls of its rivals by keeping on top of what is selling, bolstering its range of wardrobe essentials like Tshirts and jeans, and selling ‘quirky’ fun items to appeal to shoppers looking for one-off purchases.

Primark said red was the stand-out colour of the season, selling particularly well across all ranges, while clothing with faux fur and metal-work detailing were also popular with shoppers. The strong collection meant Primark was able to shift more of its clothing at full price, rather than rely on end-of-season sales.

George Salmon, analyst at Hargreaves lansdown however, suggested Primark’s strong results were ‘more a sign the UK consumer is tightening the purse strings and moving down the value chain as inflation outstrips wage growth’.