Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown:
“Next delivered its first-half results in style, with sales growth accelerating over the period and breezing past the fashion company’s original guidance. In the UK, hotter-than-expected weather and more effective marketing saw customers logging in to refresh their summer wardrobes online, helping offset a small decline in-store. But International markets were the biggest contributor to top-line growth, fuelled by pent-up demand in the Middle East and Northern Europe, which helped push total group sales 9.0% higher to £3.5bn.
Next is set to lap a tough comparable period in the second half, and concerns about rising inflation and weaker employment in the UK have seen sales guidance here wound back a touch. We view this outlook as overly cautious given that Next’s sales are skewed towards middle-class and middle-aged consumers, who are likely to remain relatively resilient even if conditions deteriorate over the rest of the year. Combined with a slightly more optimistic sales outlook for the International division, and additional cost savings across its warehouses, full-year pre-tax profit guidance has been nudged 1% higher to £1.2bn. Given Next’s well-established track record of under-promising and over-delivering, we wouldn’t rule out further small upgrades to the full-year profit outlook as the year progresses.”
Notes to Editors
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