Next has reported a 10.5% rise in full-price sales for the 13 weeks to 26 July, surpassing its guidance by £49m, as the retailer benefited from sunnier UK weather and a disruptive cyber-attack at rival Marks & Spencer.
The clothing and homewares group said its over-performance was “largely due to better than expected weather and trading disruption at a major competitor”, referring to the damaging hack that forced M&S to pause online orders for almost seven weeks and caused store shortages.
International sales also grew faster than anticipated, which Next attributed to a digital marketing strategy that “proved more effective than anticipated”. The group, which also distributes Gap and Victoria’s Secret in the UK, saw continued momentum after surpassing £1bn in annual profit earlier this year.
Next now expects full-price sales growth of 4.5% in the second half of the year, up from 3.5% previously, adding an extra £27m. However, it left its UK guidance unchanged at 1.9% growth, citing the impact of higher employer national insurance contributions on consumer spending and the expectation that neither the sunny weather nor M&S’s difficulties will persist.
Shares in Next slipped 1% in morning trading on Thursday, though they remain up more than 25% year to date.
