British clothing retailer Next on Wednesday stuck to its forecast for annual profit after reporting a 5.7 per cent rise in first-quarter full-price sales that was slightly ahead of its guidance.
The group’s results, which are often considered a useful gauge of how British consumers are faring, said it still expected a profit before tax of £960 million (€1.1 billion) in its 2024/25 year, up from £918 million in 2023/24.
It also kept its forecast for full-price sales to increase 2.5 per cent over the year as a while.
Next, whose shares have risen 11 per cent so far this year, reiterated that it expects sales in the second quarter to be weaker than the first quarter to April 27th because it benefited last year from particularly warm weather from late May to the end of June.
It forecast second-quarter full price sales to fall 0.3 per cent before recovering to rise 2.5 per cent in the third and fourth quarters. – Reuters
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