Next has increased its full-year profit outlook after a strong Christmas period.

In the eight weeks to boxing day, full-price sales jumped 20% compared to the two years previously. Full-year profit before tax guidance has increased from £22m to £822m.

“In the run up to Christmas our stock levels were materially lower than planned. We also experienced some degradation in delivery service levels as a result of labour shortfalls in warehousing and distribution networks,” said the group in a trading update.

“The fact that our sales remained so robust in these circumstances is, we believe, testament to the strength of underlying consumer demand in the period.”

Despite the strong performance at Next, the group has warned of disruption in the year ahead and will not be immune to rising inflation.

“For all the tales of woe on the high street, there is one shining jewel to be found in the form of Next. There aren’t many bricks and mortar retailers dishing out special dividends or upgrading guidance multiple times over,” said Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Next’s impressive performance has partly been down to returning demand for formal and occasionwear, as customers got ready for a festive season with a bit more cheer compared to last year. But Next has also managed the business very well – stock levels have reduced, and labour shortages didn’t derail performance. The group’s stellar online business is to thank for propping things up, with another run of double digit growth meaning reducing physical shop sales aren’t causing a headache.

Greggs has said that its full-year trading will be ahead of expectations.

Like-for-like sales are 0.8% higher than the same period two years ago.

The group, which has over 2,000 stores across the UK, saw strong sales of its Christmas products including 6.7m mince pies.

The group saw “a strong performance in October being followed by more challenging conditions as consumers responded to precautionary messages relating to the new coronavirus variant.”

“Our range continues to evolve in line with changing consumer tastes and dietary choices so the launch of our new Vegan Festive Bake was a natural next step,” the company said in a statement.

“The fourth quarter results were achieved against a backdrop of continued disruption to staffing and supply chains.”

“Our teams across the business have done a magnificent job coping under difficult circumstances and in recognition of this we brought forward the planned 2022 pay awards for our operational teams by five months.”

The group has also announced a new CEO. Roger Whiteside will be stepping down and be replaced by retail and property director Roisin Curry.

“The big news and overshadowing another solid earnings performance is long-time CEO Roger Whiteside is retiring, to be replaced by retail and property head Roisin Currie,” said Joshua Raymond, Director at financial brokerage XTB.

“Given the fantastic growth of the Greggs brand under Whiteside’s leadership, its no surprise to see some instability in the share price this morning, which trades lower by 2%.”

“However, Currie is also a longstanding member of the leadership team and so the expectation is the transition should be relatively smooth. What she faces is significant inflationary headwinds and what shareholders will want to see is stability in profit margins over the coming year. This will be no easy task for the new CEO.” 

The value of Home Entertainment jumped 13.3% to £3.7bn in 2021.

As cinemas reopened and the new James Bond film became the biggest selling title of 2021 selling 1.1m units across disc and digital formats. 

“The figures released today show what we at Sony Pictures firmly believe: that despite a challenging period for the industry due to the pandemic, the consumer appetite for Film and TV remains as strong and vital as ever,” said Rob Marsh, who is the Senior Vice President of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Looking forward, Liz Bales, Chief Executive of British Association for Screen Entertainment said: “Throughout this pandemic, entertainment at home was the refuge that many chose to take from an uncertain world, and it became clearer than perhaps ever before: audiences are the life-blood that fuels our industry. Serving audiences the content they love is driving a new, innovative world of Home Entertainment. Last year, faced with challenge, our industry was forced to adapt, but now, because of those changes, 2022 may be the biggest and best year for Home Entertainment ever.’    

Glenveagh Properties has posted a rise in revenues to €476m, which is a 64% jump.

Revenues were also up 36% compared to the same period in 2019 and have a total forward order book of around €415m.

Despite the positive trading update, the group warned of labour shortages that would create challenges for the next quarter.

CEO Stephen Garvey said: “Our ongoing investment in supply chain integration positions us well in this regard. Having delivered over 700 units from our timber frame factory in 2021, we will continue to prioritise our off-site manufacturing capability to enable us to innovate how we build the homes of the future.”

Shoppers spent £11.7bn over the Christmas period, spending more money on the more premium items over the holidays, according the latest data from Kantar.

In the four weeks to 26 December, shoppers spent £627m on more expensive items, which is 6.8% more than the year previously.

“The appetite to celebrate and splash out that little bit more this year pushed sales of luxury own-brand products up across the board,” said  Fraser McKevitt, the head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, who released the data.

“Tesco’s Finest and Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference are easily the largest premium own-label ranges, but we saw the fastest growth from other ranges such as AsdaExtra Special and Iceland Luxury.”

There was a 31% surge in crisp sales while sparkling and still wines jumped by 22%.

In the four weeks to 26 December, like-for-like grocery price inflation hit 3.5%.