The British clothing retailer Next Plc exceeded its own expectations in the past Christmas season. The company then raised its profit forecast for the current 2024/25 financial year again on Tuesday.
In the nine weeks before December 28th, sales of non-reduced items exceeded the corresponding previous year’s level by 6.0 percent, Next said in an interim statement. Adjusted for calendar effects, the increase was 5.7 percent. The retailer had previously only expected an increase of 3.0 percent.
The decisive factor for the strong growth was a surprisingly significant increase in foreign business (+31.4 percent). In Great Britain, sales of non-discounted goods increased by just 2.5 percent.
Header 2 Increases in sales and profits are also expected for the coming year
In view of the positive sales development, management raised the earnings forecast for the financial year that runs until the end of January. The target for profit before taxes adjusted for special effects was increased by five million British pounds and is now 1.010 billion British pounds (1.22 billion euros). That would mean an increase of 10.0 percent compared to the previous year.
The group also gave an initial outlook for the upcoming 2025/26 financial year. Sales are expected to grow by 3.2 percent to 6.50 billion British pounds and an increase in adjusted profit before tax by 3.6 percent to 1.046 billion British pounds.