British luxury handbag maker Mulberry posted surging Christmas sales and raised its annual profits forecast Thursday.

Retail sales at the group jumped 41 percent in the six weeks to January 14 from a year earlier on strong Asian demand, Mulberry said in a trading update.

“I am delighted that trading during Christmas and the New Year has been strong and consequently the results for the year to 31 March 2012 are likely to exceed our earlier expectations,” said Mulberry chairman and chief executive Godfrey Davis.

Mulberry is benefitting from particularly strong demand at its stores in Asia — and from affluent Asian tourists visiting its shops in the West.

Mulberry is the latest luxury retailer to post surging sales despite spreading economic gloom elsewhere on the high street.

Rival group Burberry, which also enjoys robust Asian demand, announced earlier this week that its sales jumped by more than a fifth in the run-up to Christmas.