Sales at upmarket UK department store Harvey Nichols have been hit by falling tourist numbers and rail strikes.

The London-based chain - famed for its luxurious Knightsbridge store - said it turned in a 'relatively weak' performance in the first ten weeks of the year.

Meanwhile, House of Fraser, which has department stores dotted around the country, reported an upturn in business on the back of a store revamp programme.

The news sent shares in the rivals in opposite directions.

Harvey Nichols stock fell 3.7% to 208p, while House of Fraser, Britain's third biggest department store chain, climbed 5.9% to 116.5p.

Expansion programme

Tourist numbers have fallen as a result of the foot-and-mouth crisis and months of transport chaos, following last year's Hatfield crash.

Harvey Nichols said like-for-like sales were up 2.5% and it reported a pre-tax-profit to �15.6m in the year to 31 March.

House of Fraser said a product revamp and store makeovers had paid off, with like-for-like sales rising 8.1% in the first 19 weeks of the year that started on 28 January.

It said its up-market range was protected from a sales squeeze suffered by Britain's biggest department store chain Marks and Spencer.

Harvey Nichols' luxury range did not help its sales, however, even though gross profit margins remained stable at around 44%, it said.

In addition to its flagship store in Knightsbridge and restaurants in the capital, Harvey Nichols has a store in Leeds and a licensed store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

It has plans to develop up to 10 smaller stores in the UK.

It said a Birmingham store was to open in the last quarter of this calendar year and construction of its Edinburgh and Manchester stores was progressing well and remained on target for an autumn 2002 and 2003 opening, respectively.