New York ? Consumers who frustrated retailers through the early part of December gave many storeowners a respectable holiday season after all, coming through at the last minute with a spending spree right before and after Christmas. Even struggling department stores ended up with solid results.

December sales figures issued Thursday by the nation’s biggest retailers showed that procrastinators and post-Christmas shoppers helped companies including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., and Target Corp. offset a slow start to the season.

Still, the end-of-the-season sales surge didn’t benefit all retailers; Gap Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. were among those dissatisfied with their results.

And some retailers got their sales with heavy markdowns that eroded their profits. Wal-Mart warned Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings may fall at the low end of projections.

Upscale stores including Neiman Marcus Group and Nordstrom Inc. were the star performers, posting sales results that far exceeded expectations. And December turned out to be a pleasant surprise for May Department Stores Co., Federated Department Stores Inc. and many mall-based apparel stores including Limited Brands.

Sears, Roebuck and Co. reported sluggish results, but they surpassed Wall Street forecasts.

“I was pleasantly surprised. The numbers were strong across the board,” said Ken Perkins, research analyst at Thomson First Call, whose tally of 82 stores’ sales was up 4.2 percent last month.

The tally is based on what the industry calls same-store sales, those from stores open at least a year. They are considered the best measure of a retailer’s health.

“Industrywide, the last two weeks made up a lot of lost ground,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. “There was a lot of worry, but in the end, sales came through.”

The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS same-store sales tally of 77 retailers also was up 4.2 percent, in line with Niemira’s 4 percent forecast.