Next has lifted full-year profit expectations after warm weather helped to drive bumper end-of-season sales.
The retail bellwether told investors on Thursday it is increasing its full-year guidance for group profit before tax by £10million to £845million.
Full price sales were up by 6.9 per cent year-on-year for the 13 weeks to 29 July, which was ‘mainly driven by warm weather’, while Next’s clearance rates were ‘ahead of expectations’, it said.
The retailer also said that full price sales was up by 6.9 per cent year-to-year for the 13 weeks to 29 July, which was ‘mainly driven by warm weather’
The group also saw a 10 and 2.2 per cent rise in online and retail sales, respectively.
The Leicestershire-based company said £16million additional full price sales in the last six weeks and improved clearance rates in its end-of-season summer sale means that it expects to generate £10million more profit than it anticipated in its last trading statement.
Next was a major beneficiary of the pandemic, and has continued to thrive against a backdrop of high costs and consumer pressure that drove its smaller rivals to the edge of extinction.
Cathy Kidson, Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Reiss, Joules, JoJo Maman Bebe and Made.com are all now helping to drive the group’s growth via its ‘Total’ platform.
It revealed an £870.4million pre-tax profit for last year, up 5.7 per cent on the previous year and 16.3 per cent up on the 12-month reporting period before the emergence of Covid-19 in Britain in 2020.
Next shares were down by around 0.2 per cent to 6,840p in early trading on Thursday amid a wider sell-off in London-listed stocks. They have risen by around 16 per cent since the start of 2023.
Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Next has got into a habit of beating market expectations on the upside lately, and today’s second-quarter trading statement continued the hot streak.
‘End-of-season sales were ahead of group expectations in the period, adding to the positive tailwinds that Next seems to be catching lately. The group still has a strong high street presence too, with sales here also heading in the right direction.
‘Next’s certainly weathering the storm of economic uncertainty admirably, and looks well-placed to prosper further when the cycle turns.’
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