NEXT (LSE:NXT) issued a trading statement for the 13 weeks to 2 May and raised its full‑year profit guidance to £1,218m after first‑quarter full‑price sales grew 6.2% versus last year.
Full‑price sales were +6.2% in Q1 against the company's forecast of +4.0%, leaving sales £28m ahead of plan and adding about £8m of profit, and the company said it is maintaining guidance for full‑price sales for the remainder of the year.
The outperformance was driven by exceptionally strong growth in the first five weeks (+11.8%), with trading then dividing into weeks 6-8 when the conflict in the Middle East disrupted service and weeks 9-13 when deliveries largely recovered.
UK full‑price sales were up +4.4% (the company had planned +1.3%) and, compared with two years ago, UK sales growth remained around +13% across all three periods.
International sales were hit by the early disruption but recovered in weeks 9-13 and NEXT now forecasts Q2 international sales up +17.0% and second‑half growth moderating to +14.0% as comparatives toughen after an August switch to ZEOS distribution last year.
NEXT said its March estimate of the conflict’s cost (£15m) covered only the first three months and it has updated its assumptions for the rest of the year on the basis that fuel costs stay near current levels and global transport disruption neither worsens nor improves.
Planned mitigations include price rises in selected overseas territories of no more than +8% outside Europe, currency gains offsetting costs in Europe, and UK cost savings and factory‑gate margin gains so UK prices are not expected to rise beyond the 0.6% forecast at the start of the year. Earnings per share guidance assumes completion of £510m of share buybacks this year, of which £196m has been completed at an average price of £126.52 reducing shares by 1.3%, with a buyback price limit of £132 and a commitment to return any unspent buyback cash via a special dividend or capital return.
