Primark was expected to outperform the fashion market again as Retail Week went to press, but its like-for-like growth is thought to have levelled out as the market slowdown kicked in.

The retailer was due to announce a third-quarter trading update yesterday. Ahead of the update, Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones trimmed his estimate of second-half like-for-like growth from 2 per cent to flat.

However, the performance compares well with high street rivals such as Marks & Spencer, which last week reported a first-quarter like-for-like fall of 6.2 per cent in its general merchandise division, which sells clothing predominately.

Jones believes April’s exceptionally poor weather will have had a knock-on effect on Primark’s performance, but that it had been more resilient since. Sources close to the retailer suggested that it had experienced no ill-effects after the child labour scandal exposed by the BBC last month.

This week, Primark appointed Guy Young as international trading director. Young joins from C&A and will oversee the retailer’s expansion into Europe. The company has opened in Spain and wants to push into Northern European markets such as Germany and Holland.

Young’s appointment follows that of Paul Marchant, who joined from New Look as chief operating officer, as revealed exclusively by Retail Week (June 27).

The appointments are part of a plan by the Associated British Foods-owned retailer to strengthen its management team as its rapid growth gathers pace, and as speculation continues that founder and chairman Arthur Ryan is preparing to take a less hands-on role.

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