Next sees chequered winter trading
Fashion chain Next reported a drop in sales yesterday and said they were difficult to predict from one week to the next.
Chief executive Simon Wolfson said: “Trading is very volatile. People are worried about jobs and house prices.”
Next reported total sales up by a better-than-expected 0.9 per cent for the 14 weeks to November. The shares rose 64p to 1189p.
Like-for-like sales at its shops fell by 4.4 per cent, which was not as bad as the City had been expecting.
Sales rose 2.1 per cent at its home-shopping arm Next Directory, slightly ahead of company forecasts.
Wolfson said the firm was still budgeting for sales over its autumn and winter period to be down as much as 7 per cent.
He put the better-than-forecast performance down to “newness and fashionability” in the company’s latest ranges.
Shoppers were spending less, though they were buying more-expensive items, reflecting a trend for checks and tartans.