Bhs, the high street chain controlled by the entrepreneur Sir Philip Green, reported a 16.8 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax profits today despite a 1.5 per cent fall in like-for-like sales.

It also emerged today that Sir Philip would hold off awarding himself a dividend payment from Bhs for the third year running, even though shareholder funds more than doubled in the year to March 31, 2007, from £48.9 million to £111 million.

Sir Philip last paid himself a dividend from Bhs in 2004, when he reaped £40 million.

The following year, his family famously banked a £1.2 billion dividend reward from their 92 per cent holding in Arcadia, the group that owns Top Shop.

Sir Philip and Lady Green are the seventh-wealthiest people in Britain, with a £4.9 billion fortune, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

Bhs reported pre-tax profits up from £42.2 million to £49 million on sales up 1.4 per cent to £872.5 million.

Like-for-like sales, excluding gains from new stores opened during the period, fell by 1.5 per cent.

Bhs said that sales at its stores had been flat since March but had picked up by 3 per cent in the past six weeks.

However, Sir Philip said: "The market remains competitive and underlying cost growth continues to be challenging."

Sir Philip is attempting to turn Bhs around by returning to its core audience of older shoppers and refurbishing many of its 185 stores.

The company is refurbishing 19 shops, with 13 completed and the remainder on track to be finished by the end of this month.

Sir Philip said that the results had been encouraging, with newly decorated store sales increasing by 12 per cent.

Margins at Bhs edged up by 0.1 per cent to 5.7 per cent.

During the year Bhs's corporation tax bill more than halved, from £25.8 million to £12.5 million, while the company succeeded in cutting its debt from £115.2 million to £61.8 million.

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