Audit Bureau of Circulation figures released last week, the first real measure of the impact of the newspaper's relaunch, show that an average of 404,187 copies were sold every day in September.

It is a huge jump from August's figure of 341,698, and could rise further as it includes sales for the first ten days of the month before the Berliner relaunch on 12 September.

Carolyn McCall, Guardian Newspapers (GNL) chief executive (pictured), described the figure as "a very strong performance which has exceeded our expectations."

She added: "Our integrated marketing and retail strategy aimed to put the Guardian in the hands of as many people as possible and encourage them to re-appraise the paper.  We succeeded. We look forward to the October ABC with confidence."

Guardian Newspapers has spent 84m on the relaunch, which has made the paper the UK's first national full-colour title. It is printed at Trafford Park Printers in Manchester and the new Guardian Print Centre in at Newsfax in East London.

The Guardian's rivals The Times and The Independent also increased sales in September compared to August.

The Financial Times, printed by Newsfax and West Ferry, was the only other title to gain readers in the month, with a 6.0% increase to 438,538.

All other national titles lost readers during September. The biggest losers were the Daily Express and the Daily Star, with drops of 5.2% and 4.4% respectively.

September ABCs
Winners
- The Guardian 404,187 (+18.3% month-on-month)
- Financial Times 438,538 (+6.0%)
- The Times 699,425
(+2.8%)
- The Independent 262,552 (+2.6%)
Losers
- The Scotsman 67,027
(-6.9%)
- Daily Express 831,373
(-5.2%)
- Daily Star 854,184 (-4.4%)