The British clothing retailer Next Plc was able to exceed expectations in the past Christmas business and has subsequently raised its earnings forecast for the current 2022/23 financial year. At the same time, in an interim report published on Thursday morning, the company also warned of an expected decline in profits in the coming year.
In the nine weeks ended December 30, the company was able to increase its sales of non-discounted items by 4.8 percent. The most recent forecast, which predicted a decline of 2.0 percent, was thus clearly exceeded. In view of the surprisingly good results, the group increased its earnings target for the fiscal year that lasted until the end of January. Management now expects pre-tax profit of £860m (€974m), up 4.5% year-on-year. A pre-tax profit in the region of £840m had previously been expected.
For the coming 2023/24 financial year, however, the clothing retailer is “cautious” due to the ongoing price increases and overall uncertain framework conditions. He currently expects sales of items sold at full price to fall by 1.5 percent compared to the current year. Pre-tax profit is therefore expected to shrink by 7.6 percent to around 795 million British pounds.
