Overseas sales now account for most of The Body Shop's business

But the natural beauty products retailer said like-for-like sales in its home market in the past 10 months had declined by 1%.

Overseas stores now account for three-quarters of business at The Body Shop, one of the icons of the British High Street in the 1980s.

Overall group sales in the 10 weeks to 1 January were up 3%.

Stores in the Asia-Pacific region were the best performing, with sales increasing by 7% over the 10 week period. The US was the only region to record a fall.

Brand repositioning

The Body Shop's Christmas figures were an improvement on 2003, when group sales were down 5% and sales in the UK and Ireland slumped 16%.

Our repositioning of the brand continues to progress Peter Saunders, Body Shop chief executive Check the Body Shop share price

This improvement contrasts with other leading names such as Marks & Spencer and Woolworth's which have reported disappointing figures over the Christmas season.

Analysts reacted positively to the announcement, and Body Shop's shares closed up 2.96% at 165 pence.

The firm's At Home division, which organises direct-selling parties at customer's houses, has seen sales increase 34% so far this year.

Annual profits this year would be slightly above market expectations of about �35m, said chief executive Peter Saunders.

"Our repositioning of the brand continues to progress, and we expect to deliver another year of good performance," he said.