Full price sales for Next in the six months to July 2024, were up 4.4% and total sales were up 8%.
Profit before tax for the period also increase 7.1% to £452m. As a result, Next has upgraded its guidance for the second half of the year, with sales growth forecasted to be +3.7%, compared to previous guidance of +2.5%.
Full year, fully price sales are expected to be up 4%, with total group sales up 6.6% and full year pre-tax profit guidance has increased by +£15m to £995m (up 8.4% year-on-year).
Next said: “We enter this new era in a more positive frame of mind with new avenues of growth and a more stable business. Retail sales have stabilised and, though the shift to Online may not have run its course, its effects are much diminished; not least because Retail is a much smaller part of our business.”
The UK business during the first half increased, as expected, by 1%, held back by tough comparisons with last year’s exceptionally warm Q2. Next believes this was mainly due to fashion ranges not doing as well due to the weather.
Meanwhile the overseas business was up 23%, driven by a healthy performance on the direct to consumer sites, up 15%, and through third-party aggregation sites, up 43%.
