Pre-tax earnings for 2001/2 rose by 28% to £16.4m.

More than 40 new stores are set to open in 2002

The company is becoming one of the UK's largest value-for-money clothing chains with annual turnover of £270m, a rise of 15%.

Peacocks runs 350 stores in England and Wales and employs 5,500 workers.

In December the company announced it was creating 1,000 jobs over the following 12 months.

The planned expansion includes up to 40 new stores across the UK in 2002.

There was a downturn in trading in May, but Peackocks management insisted it was only temporary.

Bucking the trend

The low-cost clothing firm's boom goes against predictions of the current manufacturing recession spreading into the retail sector in the coming months.

The expansion programme has been designed as a long-term move by the company, which plans to increase the number of stores from nearly 350 to 700.

Peacocks Facts

350 stores 5,500 workers Profits up 28% Sales up 15% 40 new stores opening in 2002 1,000 new jobs

Peacocks said it was targeting key locations in towns and cities for its latest expansion, without "cannabilising" existing sales.

Earlier in May the group opened its first new concept Peacocks store through a refurbishment in Bridgend, south Wales.

The new identity will be extended progressively through the opening of new stores and the refit programme.

Peacocks said it was well on track towards its target of opening 40 new stores in 2002, with agreements already in place for 24 sites.

The company is particularly strong in its native Wales and in London.

It also has a deal with Woolworths to sell its clothing lines in the out-of-town Big W stores, now extended to 2005.

Peacocks was floated on the London stock exchange in 1999, valuing the company at more than £150m.

The deal made chief executive Richard Kirk a multi-millionaire.