The Next best thing

UK fashion chain Next has posted a 12.5 per cent increase in annual profit after its sales reached their highest level ever.

Next, which has more than 500 stores in the UK, and nearly 200 overseas, achieved sales of nearly £4 billion for the first time since its foundation in 1982.

Sales rose across the board – in its bricks and mortar stores and through its eCommerce site.

However, CEO Lord Wolfson is maintaining a cautious approach to trading in the year ahead, accepting that consumer sentiment seems to have improved, but warning that not all of Next’s new collections were resonating with shoppers.

“The economic outlook for the UK consumer looks benign. Low price inflation, an end to real wage decline, healthy credit markets and strong employment all paint a more positive picture than in recent years,” Lord Wolfson said in a statement.

“Although the consumer economy looks benign, we remain very cautious in our sales budgets. Whilst we are happy with most of our current product ranges, we recognise that some collections are not as strong as they were at this point last year.

“In addition, during the Spring and Summer seasons, we face very tough comparative numbers from last year, when sales were assisted by unusually warm weather.”

Lord Wolfson said Next expects its sales to rise by between 1.5 per cent and 5.5 per cent in the year ahead, with pre-tax profit predicted to rise by between 0.4 per cent and 6.7 per cent.

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