Next raises profit guidance after strong start to year
Next has raised its full year sales and profit guidance after seeing its pre-tax profit for the 12 months to January 2025 surpass the £1 million mark for the first time.
During the period, the fashion and homeware retailer increased its profit by 10.1% to £1.01 billion after full price sales rose by 5.8%.
Meanwhile, group sales increased by 8.2% to £6.3 billion.
Next said the company should not be viewed any differently due to the profit milestone, adding: “Reaching any level of profit cannot be used as an excuse for being less demanding in our approach to running the business.
Never Miss a Retail Update!“We can be no less rigorous in the control of costs and maintenance of margins, any less demanding in terms of return on capital or less disciplined in the way we allocate capital ”
The company then said that it has always been more focused on the delivery of sustainable growth in earnings per share.
Giving an update on trading so far in the new financial year, Next said full price sales in the first eight weeks were ahead of expectations.
It is now expecting sales to grow by 5% in the first half and full price sales to increase by 6.5% compared to an earlier guidance of growth of 3.5% for both.
Meanwhile Next’s full year pre-tax profit guidance has been raised by £20 million to £1.07 billion, or by 5.4%.
