Next sales rise but high street stores continue to struggle

Sales at Enderby-based retail giant Next have risen 3.9% to £1.98bn for the half year to the end of July 2018, with profits also slightly up to £311.1m.

The results are better than Next expected and the company has upgraded its full-year profit forecast by £10m to £727m.

Next’s high street stores now contribute less than half the company’s sales, the results show.

A statement from the firm said: “The UK retail market remains volatile, subject to powerful structural and cyclical changes. Many of these headwinds have not abated. As expected, sales in our stores (which now account for just under half of our turnover) continue to be challenging.

“The overarching story centres on the profound and rapid structural change in our sector, with ever increasing volumes of sales transferring online. It is worth reflecting that 10 years ago NEXT Retail contributed £2.2bn turnover to the Group and accounted for 67% of Group sales and profit. This year we expect Retail sales, at just under £2bn, to contribute less than half of our Group sales and only 30% of Group profit.”

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