Bookshop chain Ottakars said yesterday strong sales of rugby World Cup titles helped it to notch up a record performance last year, after it bought 24 stores from rival Hammicks.

Chairman Philip Dunne said the outlook for the coming year was "encouraging," as he announced that pre-tax profits for the year to 31 January were up 20% to £6.1m, and earnings per share rose by 13%, to 18.26p.

Like-for-like sales rose 6.2%, against a 3.2% increase in the year to January 2003.

Favourite Christmas sellers were Lynn Truss's grammar guide, Eats, Shoots and Leaves, and Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, as well as a rash of rugby-related books after England's triumph in the World Cup.

Ottakars said it had taken a charge of £1.2bn as a result of integrating the 24 Hammicks stores. Mr Dunne said next year's performance, without exceptional charges and with a full-year's sales from the Hammicks branches, should be even better.