(Adds Morrisons, Footasylum, Joules Group)
Jan 8 (Reuters) - British retailers are giving updates onChristmas trading, by far their busiest and most importantperiod of the year, stretching from "Black Friday" on Nov. 23 toearly January clearance sales.
Investors had been braced for bad news after a major profitwarning from the one-time online darling ASOS Plc lastmonth capped a torrid year for the sector marred by shopclosures and bankruptcies.
On the high street the run up to Christmas was marked bydiscounting while the number of shoppers hitting the shops afterDec. 25 fell on previous years.
Following are the highlights:
Reported on Jan. 8.
WM Morrison Supermarket Plc
Morrison, Britain's fourth largest supermarket group, missedChristmas sales forecasts as weak consumer demand hit its retailand wholesale businesses.
Reported on Jan. 8.
Footasylum Plc
British fashion retailer Footasylum Plc warned that itsfull-year core earnings would come in at the lower end ofanalysts' estimates, hit by lower margins and likely chargesfrom a future cost savings initiative.
Reported on Jan. 8.
Joules Group Plc
British lifestyle brand, Joules Group Plc reported a 11.7percent rise in retail sales for the seven-week period to Jan.6, boosted by higher online sales.
Reported on Jan. 7.
Aldi UK
Aldi UK, the British arm of the German discount supermarket,said its sales increased around 10 percent to almost 1 billionpounds ($1.28 billion) in December, driven by increased demandfor its premium ranges.
Reported on Jan. 7.
Dunelm Group
Homeware retailer Dunelm Group Plc said it expects higherpretax profit for the first half of the year and forecastfull-year pretax profit above the top range of analysts'estimates if the industry continues to grow at its current pace.
Reported on Jan. 3.
Next
A late surge in online demand helped British clothingretailer Next to increase sales in the Christmas period,confounding fears of tough festive trading and lifting sharesacross the battered sector.
Reported on Jan. 2.
John Lewis
John Lewis said sales in its department storesrose 4.5 percent in the week ending December 29, boosted bystrong demand on Christmas Eve and "a confident start topost-Christmas clearance both online and in shops".
Reported on Dec. 29.
HMV
Music retailer HMV called in the administrators for thesecond time in five years after it said demand for CDs and DVDswas disappearing. One of the best known names on the highstreet, it plans to keep the business running while it tries tofind a buyer.($1 = 0.7841 pounds)(Reporting by Kate Holton, Noor Zainab Hussain and SamanthaMachadoEditing by Keith Weir, Bernard Orr and Shounak Dasgupta)
