Asos revenues broke through £1 billion in the last four months of the decade as the online fashion retailer was lifted by a record Black Friday.

Retail sales hit £1.07 billion in the period ending on New Year's Eve.

Total group revenue, which also includes revenues from third parties, rose to £1.11 billion.

Both measures were 20% up on the year before.

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The business said it had managed to "rebuild customer momentum", especially due to its best Black Friday on record.

It did not reveal what proportion of its clothes were sold at a discount, or what sales were on the day.

Chief executive Nick Beighton said: "Asos has delivered an encouraging start to the year. Strong customer acquisition activity, supported by robust operational performance, has driven good momentum in all our markets."

Asos kept its outlook for the full year unchanged, and said it would focus on trying to retain the new customers who have started using its website.

The UK, while still the most important single market for the company, lost some of its revenue share.

UK retail sales hit almost £409 million, 18% up on the year before, but international retail sales jumped by 22%, including a 23% increase in the US.

It means that the UK's share of retail sales is 38%, down from nearly 39% a year earlier.

"As we said in October, the focus for this year is to further enhance our capabilities and leverage the investments we have made," Mr Beighton said.

The company shipped 27.7 million orders in the four months, a 20% rise on the same period in 2018. Meanwhile, 23% more visits to its website were clocked up.

EU retail sales rose 21% to £332.5 million.

Mr Beighton added: "We remain confident in our ability to capture the substantial opportunity ahead of us."

Hotel Chocolat has revealed a boost in sales over Christmas, although it warned that the growth came at a higher-than-expected price.

The chain said sales in the 13 weeks to December 29 jumped 11% compared with the same period last year, while sales in the six months to the same date rose 14%.

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During the six-month period, the retailer opened nine new sites in the UK, two in the US and a further three in Japan through a joint venture.

To cope with international demand, the company said it would be changing the way its supply chain operates, to become more internationally focused.

Chief executive and co-founder Angus Thirwell said: "While much of 2019 was about getting started in these large new markets, 2020 will see us accelerate our supply chain transformation.

"This focus will rebalance us from being a UK-based company operating from owned channels, to one more suitable for multi-channel, multi-territory international supply."

He said: "When we're delivering our freshly made chocolates from our factory in Huntington to Glasgow, if the order isn't 100% what they were expecting, they will know it will come on the next delivery.

"That's what we've built - because we're supplying to ourselves. What goes on in the stockroom can tolerate a certain level of imprecision.

"When it's a case of exporting to the toughest market in the world for food products - in Japan - it's binary. You'll either get it 100% correct or fail. Behind the scenes we've had to pedal really hard to get up to those standards."

Hotel Chocolat added that, since December, sales continue to be in line with expectations, but "the cost to deliver this growth was modestly higher due to inefficiencies in the supply chain which are being addressed in 2020".

PayPoint warned that its pre-tax profit would miss expectations in the financial year after an unusually warm Christmas period ate into its bottom line.

The business, which tops up pre-payment energy cards, said the festive season, and the first three weeks of January "continues to affect energy transactions within UK bill payments".

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As a result of this, and a slower-than-expected rise in the number of parcels that people were sending via PayPoint, the business said profit before tax and exceptional items is likely to be lower than previously expected.

Shares fell around 7%, or 73p, to 971p on the news on Thursday morning.

Revenue increased by 4.2% to £32.7 million in the three months ending on New Year's Eve.

It was driven by the strong growth in the company's service fees as it switches its corner shop customers to a new system, PayPoint One.

Late last year PayPoint said the roll-out would smash through its target of reaching 15,800 sites by March 31 2020. The new target is 16,500.

On Thursday, the business said it had already reached 16,223 sites before the end of 2019, helping to push up service fees.

Executive chairman Nick Wiles said: "Overall our results for the quarter reflect resilience in our bill payments business, growth in our parcels activities during the important peak parcels period, and continued progress in the rollout of PayPoint One and our retail services activities."

Mr Wiles became executive chairman last year after chief executive Patrick Headon stepped down following nearly three months off for medical treatment.

The company ate into its cash reserves over the period, ending the year with £29.8 million in the bank, compared with £27.5 million at the end of March last year.

Its Romanian business increased transactions by 3.6%, reaching 29.2 million. Net revenue grew 0.4%, kept lower by a one-off payment for marketing support.

Mr Wiles said: "Romania has performed well, with a steady increase in transactions and good control of costs."