Wednesday newspaper share tips: A good opportunity to snap up Next

Despite a worrying set of Christmas trading results from Next on Tuesday, The Times’ Tempus is recommending traders ‘buy long term’.

In its much anticipated post-Christmas trading update, Next revealed sales were below expectations but said profits were within the range of guidance after the clothing retailer held back from discounting until Boxing Day.

With the mild weather "mainly" to blame, full price retail sales fell 0.5% in the period from 26 October to 24 December, which was short of estimates and distinctly underwhelming compared to the rest of the year.

Full price sales from its Next Directory catalogue were up 2.0%, meaning total sales were up just 0.4%, both well below estimates as the weather was exacerbated by poor stock availability from October onwards as well as the admission that "the online competitive environment is getting tougher".

Tempus said management have fessed up by admitting some of it was because they got Next Directory wrong, with growth extremely short of expectations.

However, the company also forecast that this won’t be the worst Christmas retail result we’ll see yet, with bleak figures from rival Marks & Spencer expected later in the week.

Management also noted that it could have been worse, as Next decided not to discount stock ahead of Christmas.

“A seven per cent fall in the amount left for the end-of-season sale rather suggests that it did not get things too badly wrong,” the tipster said.

With a strong cash flow and the fall in the share price on the back of the results, Tempus said it looks like a good opportunity to buy.

Over in The Telegraph, Questor has posed a few questions to Sport Direct’s Mike Ashley.

The company has been facing plenty of criticism over the last few months – from claims that workers are being treated unfairly to concerns about its corporate governance.

With that in mind, Questor questioned the ability of the company’s founder and deputy chairman to loan the company up to £250m at any time, especially considering it has the ability to borrow up to £758m from banks.

The facility has been used before, the column pointed out, and was swiftly repaid ahead of the company’s next reporting date back in April 2015.

The retailer’s investment strategy was also called into question, with a stake in a number of rivals looking like a “distraction of management time” – a strategy the tipster believed is “confused”.

Finally, Questor said the plans for expansion are another distraction, especially those for overseas which it said looks like a “poor return on shareholder funds”.

With more questions than answers, Questor kept its recommendation of ‘sell’ until there is a new approach to disclosure.

“The growth is now slowing and Mike Ashley’s idiosyncratic style of ownership, which was accepted and overlooked by investors when times were good, is increasingly coming under scrutiny.”