Next strong performance with home shopping boost

Published:  3 May at 6 PM

As reported by the BBC, clothing and household furnishings retailer Next has announced that a strong performance at its Directory home shopping firm has offset a decline in sales at its High Street shops. Total sales went up 1.4 percent for the 13 weeks leading up to April 28.

The company’s directory home shopping brand sales went up by 11.8 percent during the quarter, but High Street sales dropped by 3.9 percent. The numbers were in line with analysts’ expectations, as Next predicted that first-half revenues would be higher than last year.

Honor Westnedge, who is a retail analyst with Verdict Research, called it a very strong performance despite the gloom on High Street. The analyst said that Next has a great strategy for developing its multichannel offering, as online sales make up around one-third of all brand sales.

Next is predicting profits between £560 million - £610 million for the months leading up to January 2013—that is, if sales go up by 1 percent to 4 percent. The pre-tax profits for 2011 were £570 million. Ms Westnedge said this seemed easily achievable.