Fashion and furnishings retailer Next has reported a growth in second quarter sales.
According to its latest trading update, full price sales in the second quarter were up +9.2% versus last year. This was materially ahead of its forecast for the period of +4%, with sales £70m ahead of expectations.
UK sales rose 2.8% in Q2, driven by online growth of 5%. Retail store sales fell 0.3%. International sales rose 36.9%.
Next said it believes this over-performance was due to the weather in the UK, which was as warm as last year’s exceptional summer, which it had not anticipated, as well as the release of some pent-up demand in the Middle East and Northern Europe after a weaker first quarter in both territories.
“We were able to spend much more on profitable marketing than we had anticipated,” Next added.
The business has now increased its full year pre-tax profit guidance by +£25m to £1,243m, up +7.3% on last year.
There are two elements to this upgrade, which include the addition of £70m of full price sales added +£15m of profit, as well as the performance of its equity investments that have been better than expected, rising its forecast for full year profit by +£10m.
