Upcoming sales have soared so far this year as Lord Wolfson steers the fashion brand towards £1bn in profits.
The retailer said full-price sales in the 13 weeks to April 27 were 5.7 per cent higher than in the first quarter of last year, and it was on track to make a profit of £960m. pounds sterling this year.
Tesco, Marks & Spencer and B&Q owner Kingfisher are the only listed UK retailers to have made £1bn in profits in a year.
The optimism led one analyst to even rate Next as the country’s best retailer “by far.”
Next expects annual sales to rise 2.5 per cent to £4.9bn this year.
Sales rise: Next, run by Lord Wolfson (pictured), said full-price sales in the 13 weeks to April 27 were 5.7% higher than in the first quarter of last year.
With inflation receding and the economy recovering, Next beat its own forecast that sales would rise 5 percent in the first quarter. Although in-store sales were the same as a year ago, online sales increased 8.8 percent.
Wolfson (inset), chief executive since 2001, said last month that “it feels like we’re entering a new era.”
Warning against “unbridled optimism,” he added that it appeared the consumer was not now facing “the same headwinds.”
Next is seen as a bellwether for the overall health of the High Street, with 800 stores and a large online business.
But yesterday it warned that sales in the second quarter would fall 0.3 percent due to colder temperatures.
It said: “We expect sales in the second quarter to be weaker than the first because last year benefited from particularly warm weather from late May to late June.”
John Moore, senior investment manager at RBC Brewin Dolphin, said: “The British weather appears to be the only thing that could stop this: spring has not yet arrived in 2024 and the second quarter of last year was unusually warm, making it difficult the situation”. comparator next quarter.
“But that’s life in retail and Next remains by far the UK’s biggest retailer, despite the revivals of M&S and Primark.”
Wolfson’s views on the UK’s economic health are closely watched after his warnings preceded the 2008-2009 financial crisis.
And its success comes when its rivals have struggled. John Lewis suffered huge losses before finally returning to the black this year, while M&S has also just managed to regain its fashion credentials.
Next Share rose 0.6 per cent, or 56p, to 9,064p.
