Next shares fell on Wednesday as the retailer it said it didn’t expect sales to continue at the same they did in the last quarter.
Despite total sales for the last quarter jumping 17%, Next shares fell over 4% on Wednesday morning as the company said: “We do not expect sales to continue at the level seen in Q3 and are maintaining our guidance for full price sales to be up +10% in the fourth quarter.”
The group blamed diminishing pent up demand and supply issues as reason for reducing their sales guidance.
“NEXT have delivered a stellar sales and profit performance in recent quarters, but the going is getting tougher. The company will not be alone in facing delays and higher costs in sourcing and distributing stock,” said Steve Clayton, fund manager at HL Select.
“Nor will they be the only one whose customers face a squeeze on their spending money, when the gas bill turns up. All the evidence so far is that NEXT will handle these issues better than most. But profits are still likely to be impacted. So far the company are saying that higher costs are absorbing the benefit of stronger than expected demand. But with demand set to come under increasing pressure as consumers struggle with higher bills, the outlook is becoming less certain.