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Retail group Arcadia has reported a modest increase in its annual operating profit, despite the summer's bad weather.

In a statement today the company – which owns fashion chains Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Miss Selfridge – said it had achieved a "very creditable performance" against the background of one of the worst "non-summers" in recent years.

Arcadia reported an operating profit of £293.3 million for the 52 weeks to September 1st, up 1.6 per cent on the £288.6 million reported last year.

The group's total sales climbed by 5.2 per cent to £1.86 billion, up from £1.77 billion in 2006.

Like-for-like sales climbed by 2.1 per cent, while the company added that it had achieved a one per cent increase in like-for-like sales during the first seven weeks of the new financial year.

Arcadia stressed that despite the bad weather experienced in the UK over the summer, when severe flooding hit parts of the country, its brands had continued to be managed efficiently.

The group said its retail companies had focused on working with suppliers to ensure products arrived in stores speedily, with their efficiency generating cash which will allow Arcadia to continue investing money in refurbishing outlets and creating new selling space.

Explaining how the bad weather had impacted upon the logistics of the business, Arcadia owner and retail entrepreneur Sir Philip Green told the Today programme: "We had to manage the business completely differently, tighten up a lot of our inventories [and] make sure we weren't left with a lot of unsold merchandise, because you can't plan for that sort of length of period of non-seasonal weather.

"In spite of that we came out of it pretty well," he added.

Arcadia has stressed that its brands are "well positioned" to grow both in the UK and internationally, with company bosses planning to create more than 300,000 square feet of extra trading space over the coming year.

The retail group also says that it is working with its international franchise partners to open an additional 70 outlets abroad.

However Arcadia said that no dividend would be paid this year, the second year on a row that no payout has been forthcoming. Two years ago Sir Philip's family took a record £1.2 billion payout from the retail group as Arcadia's majority shareholders.