Next boosts outlook on bumper third quarter

Next lifted its guidance for both the crucial fourth quarter and the full year on Wednesday, after the recent cold snap caused sales to surge.

Updating on trading, the blue chip retailer said full price sales surged 7.6% in the 13 weeks to 26 October, well ahead of the 5% uplift it had forecast.

Next attributed the better-than-expected performance to the arrival of colder weather this year, which compared favourably to last year’s unusually warm September and early October.

As a result, Next lifted guidance for fourth-quarter full price sales to 3.5%, and full-year profits and sales.

It now expects 2024/25 sales to come in at £5.02bn, compared to its previous forecast for £4.98bn, with pre-tax profits topping £1bn, at £1.005bn. That would be an 9.5% increase on the previous year.

Total group sales - which include markdowns and subsidiaries - are forecast to be £6.27bn, up 7.4% year-on-year.

Prior to Wednesday’s update, Next had expected full-year pre-tax profits to come in at £995m on sales of £4.98bn.

Retail analyst Richard Hyman told the BBC that the results were "tremendous" with Next "outperforming the market comfortably".