Next has maintained its annual profit guidance despite reporting a minor drop in sales in the first quarter.
In the 13 weeks ended 29 April, the British retailer reported a 0.7% drop in sales, slightly ahead of its expectation of 0.2%.
Online sales fell by 1.6% in the period, alongside a 0.6% fall in in-store sales, compared with the same period last year.
Click here to sign up for our newsletter
Next revealed profit guidance for the full-year remains unchanged with profit before tax expected to be £795 million.
However, according to the retailer it is “too early in the year” to alter its overall sales expectations for either the half or full-year. Instead, Next adjusted its sales guidance for the second half of the year to be 5% less, compared with the same period last year.
In a statement, Next said: “Although our first quarter performance moderately exceeded our sales guidance, we believe it is too early in the year to alter our overall sales expectations for either the half or full-year.”
“This adjustment seems reasonable, as some of the first quarter’s success, particularly in holiday clothing sales leading up to Easter, might have been pulled forward from the second quarter.”
Next has been ranked as an Elite retailer in the 2023 RXUK Top500 report, click here to download.
Image credit: Shutterstock
