Boohoo has hailed "strong" sales since the end of August as the online fashion giant said it benefited from a record performance across the Black Friday weekend.

The company said it is "comfortably in line" with forecasts for the rest of the year, having posted a 43% jump in revenues in the six months to August 31.

It added that its recently acquired brands - Karen Millen, Coast and MissPap - have all been "successfully integrated" onto its platform.

Boohoo said that initial ranges for the brands have been "very well received" as it will continue to broaden its product ranges as part of its growth strategy.

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Boohoo purchased the Karen Millen and Coast brands out of administration in August, launching them online in October after administrators closed their 32 retail stores.

It has also previously hailed "rapid" sales for the MissPap brand it purchased in March.

The fashion business also said on Tuesday that both of its warehouses have had a strong operational performance as they gear for the busy Christmas period.

Cineworld is hoping the final instalment of the Star Wars saga, due out later this month, will help the cinema chain see out a tough year for the sector in some style.

Customers have already enjoyed a slew of sequels including The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Joker and Frozen 2, with Jumanji: The Next Level and Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker still to come.

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However, Cineworld is expected to trade below expectations for the year, it has admitted, despite increasing savings from its takeover of US rival Regal.

Cineworld, which also owns the Picturehouse brand, added that total sales in the 11 months to December 1 were down 9.7%, including a 13.9% fall at the US box office and 12.7% drop in the UK and Ireland.

Sales of popcorn, snacks and drinks also fell 7.4% across the group, with the US down 8.3% and UK and Ireland off 12.7%.

Mooky Greidinger, chief executive of Cineworld, said: "Despite the challenging backdrop, Cineworld has continued to execute well and our strategy of focusing on optimising customer experience remains unchanged.

"There is an impressive selection of movies to come, which, coupled with our extensive premium technology-led offering and exciting food and beverage offerings, will contribute strongly to our operating results and underpin our mission to be the best place to watch a movie."

Plumbing giant Ferguson has said the demerger of its UK arm Wolseley is firmly on track as the company posted higher profits in the first quarter.

The company reported a 9% jump in profit to $451 million (£347 million), as it was buoyed by its "outperforming" US business.

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Ferguson said its total revenues rose by 5.3% to $5.21 billion (£4 billion) for the three months to October 31, as the company hailed a "good overall trading performance".

It said that this was driven by its core US business which saw its sales rise by 6.2% to $4.89 billion (£3.7 billion) amid an increase in residential housing activity in the country.

The UK Wolseley business - which it said it will be completely demerged next year - saw sales drop 2.2% to $541 million (£416 million) for the period.

In September, Ferguson announced plans to split off the UK operations following a lengthy strategic review of the group