Next on way back from slow summer
FASHION retailer Next Group suffered a slowdown over the summer but says underlying sales in its stores chain still grew by 2.5% over the past six weeks.
Chief executive Simon Wolfson said significant improvements had been made to ranges after last year's disappointing autumn performance and it has also sorted out problems experienced with the fit of some of its womenswear ranges.
First-half profits rose by 6% to £123.2m pre-tax but would have been £6m higher had it not been a change in the timing of the summer sale. That profit will now fall in the second half. Interest charges rose significantly, reflecting the share buyback programme.
The first-half figures were also hit by a sluggish performance at the Directory home shopping business, where profits stalled at £30.2m. A new furniture delivery service racked up extra costs but Wolfson said action had been taken to improve performance, including an increase in delivery charges from £2.95 to £3.50.
Group sales were ahead by 18.6%, to £1.12bn, with a like-for-like increase of 3.8% in retail, excluding the impact of new stores on existing outlets, falling to 2.5% in the opening six weeks of the second half. Taking account of the 'cannibalisation' effect, growth was 1.8%, falling to 0.8% in the second half so far.