LONDON (Reuters) - British clothing retailer Next (L:NXT) said on Wednesday sales picked up in October after a poor start to autumn trading and the group kept its profit guidance for the full 2019-20 year.
Next, which trades from about 500 stores in the UK and Ireland, about 200 stores in 40 countries overseas and its Directory online business, said full price sales including interest income rose 2.0% in its third quarter to Oct. 26, slightly ahead of guidance given in September.
Last month Next had reported a "disappointing" start to autumn trading, attributing it to unusually warm weather in parts of Britain rather than shoppers holding back on buying new clothes due to uncertainty over Brexit.
The group said it believed that strong sales in July pulled forward sales from August. It said that while sales in September were adversely affected by the warm weather, it saw a significant improvement in October, with sales up 5% year-on-year when temperatures fell.
"We believe the improved sales growth in October recouped some of the lost sales in September and we do not expect sales growth for the rest of the year to be as strong as October," it added.
For 2019-20 Next foresees full-price sales up 3.6% and pretax profit of 725 million pounds ($934 million), a 0.3% rise on the 2018-19 outcome, with earnings per share growth of 5.2%, reflecting share buybacks.
Shares in Next, up 72% so far this year, closed Tuesday at 6,850 pence, valuing the business at 9.12 billion pounds.