Next raises full year profit guidance after better than expected sales
Next has raised its full year profit guidance after its full price sales came in better than expected in its second quarter with an increase of 3.2%.
As the weather last summer had been more favourable for clothing retailers, the fashion and homewares retailer had planned for full price sales to be down 0.3% in the period.
However, full price UK sales, including retail and online, came in slightly ahead of expectations in 13 weeks to July 2024 with growth of 0.4%.
Meanwhile, overseas online sales were “much better than expected” at +21.9%.
This meant that Next’s full price sales in its first half were up 4.4% on the prior year compared to a guidance of +2.5%.
Total group sales in the half year were up 8% with much of the uplift driven by Next’s acquisition of FatFace and its increased stake in Reiss, both of which occurred in third quarter of last year.
As a result of the performance, Next has increased its profit guidance for its full year by £20 million to £980 million to mark a 6.7% uplift on the previous year.
