10th Sep 2015 06:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Next PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit and revenue both rose in the first half of its financial year, driven by higher-than-expected full-price brand sales growth and a robust performance in its directory business, while retail sales rose only marginally.
The FTSE 100-listed fashion retailer said its pretax profit for the 26 weeks to July 25 was GBP347.1 million, up from GBP324.2 million, as its total sales revenue for the period rose to GBP1.89 billion from GBP1.85 billion a year earlier.
The group said sales for its Next Retail business, its high street stores, was up only marginally, rising 0.2% year-on-year to GBP1.08 billion, but its Next Directory sales, comprising its directory business and its online sales, rose 8.2% to GBP767.0 million. The company said full price Next brand sales were slightly ahead of its expectations in the half, up 3.5%.
Next said it will hike its interim dividend to 53.0 pence per share, up 6.0% year-on-year and in line with its expectations for the full year.
Next also addresssed the challenges faced by the implementation of the UK National Living Wage in the UK, an effective minimum wage for workers aged 25 and over, and said that the additional wage costs are likely to be similar across the industry, meaning they should not have any impact on competitiveness.
The retailer said it will maintain its sales guidance for the full year, which it upgraded in July, with full price brand sales expected to be up between 3.5% and 6.0% for the full year, which implies sales growth of 3.5% to 7.5% in the second half.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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