Proactive Investors - Having upgraded profit guidance only last month, Next PLC (LON:NXT) looks set to impress investors with its interim results on Thursday 21 September.
Any forward-looking statement will be welcomed by shareholders, as the UK retail bellwether will be aiming to continue good momentum into the run-up to Christmas.
Under chief executive Simon Wolfson, Next’s mantra has always been to under-promise and over-deliver and it was no different in August when the group upped earlier profit guidance by another £10 million, sending shares higher and emphasised the better-than-expected second-quarter sales.
Full-price sales in the second quarter were up 6.9% compared to last year, driven by a period of warm weather which led to revenue growth 3.7% higher than anticipated.
In the statement's detailed breakdown, online sales showed significant growth at 10%, while store sales increased by 2.2%.
Some analysts, like those at Shore Capital, have been “encouraged” by the upgrades, including improved clearance rates and the positive outlook, though analysts at Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) reckon more value can be found elsewhere.