Barclays starts coverage of Next at 'overweight'

The bank said Next is transitioning from a UK store-based retailer into a multi-channel, multi-geography platform.

"Indeed, Next has made more progress in this direction than some may appreciate - we expect UK stores to contribute just 31% of sales and 14% of EBIT by calendar 2022.

"With its online business generating mid-teens percentage sales growth and margins, Next offers an interesting mix of growth and cash returns."

Barclays estimates that Next can return around 8.4% of its market cap over the next five years.

"The share price has admittedly risen by more than 80% since April, but for investors with a longer-term horizon we think the shares still offer attractive upside."

At 1040 BST, the shares were up 2.9% at 6,346.00p.