Next’s sales are defying gravity. Not only are the group fending off any concerns about the health of the consumer and the demise of the high street, they are set to produce record high sales in the 2024/2025 full year.
Strength in the group’s Next brand is being supplemented by growth in labels such as Reiss and Fatface, resulting in 8% group sales growth in Next’s first half to July 2024.
Next published what they called their most important report in years in March, outlining a detailed strategy for growth and identifying the strengths and opportunities for Next.
Steps included breaking down operating divisions to focus on areas of the business more granularly and focusing on the core of their business—fashion. The early results of this review were evident in today’s report with greater insight into how the different areas of the business are performing. And they’re all doing well.
Investors will be pleased to see Next is also expecting massive growth in its online business – an area it has struggled with in recent years.
“Next seems to be an unstoppable force this year, with shares up again this morning off the back of their latest update,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at investment platform eToro.
“They have raised their guidance for the second time in as many months and projected profit for the year is just shy of £1billion. Given all of the inflation concerns the retail market has had to contend with, on top of the fact that out of the ordinary weather has affected clothing, the performance of Next is highly commendable.
“Investors will be hoping Next can keep up the momentum. Having already enjoyed a 25% gain this year alone, the question will be whether some profit taking kicks in. It seems as though this could have happened this morning with shares off their highs.”