The biggest US apparel-focused retailer, Gap Inc. posted June sales that topped analysts’ estimates, a sign the company’s long-promised turnaround could be taking hold.

A key benchmark, total same-store sales, rose 2 per cent in June, the San Francisco-based retailer said recently. Analysts had predicted a 3.6 per cent decline, according to estimates compiled by Retail Metrics. The company’s off-price Old Navy brand led the results, with comparable sales increasing 5 per cent last month, topping the 3.3 per cent drop analysts expected.

The June results could signal that the improvement Chief Executive Officer Art Peck predicted would arrive in the spring is beginning to materialize. Traffic was bolstered by the Memorial Day holiday, which fell in fiscal June, the company said.

Trends reversed for Old Navy, which had stumbled as comparable sales slipped in six of the past eight months. In May, the company said it was shutting Japanese Old Navy stores and refocusing on North America and China.