Warm spring weather boosts Next sales

Next said sales were better than expected over the past three months, helped by the recent bout of warm weather.

Rising temperatures just as new spring summer stock is coming into the stores are the perfect conditions for the high street, and sales are expected to have been buoyant over the past couple of weeks.

The performance should allay some concerns that the consumer recovery is bypassing clothing retailers, and bodes well for rivals Marks and Spencer and Debenhams.

Next said full price sales for the 13 weeks to April were up 3.2 per cent, of which 1.9 per cent came from the opening of new space.

The company said this was "slightly ahead of the guidance we gave in March for the first half of the year", which was flat to up to 3 per cent.

However, the retailer said sales in the first quarter were flattered by the earlier launch of its summer "New-In" brochure, which helpfully coincided with the warmer weather.

Total sales were up more than full-price sales, at 4.1 per cent, after a longer end-of-season sale and a larger midseason sale in Directory, Next's online operation.

Despite the better sales, Next left its full-year profit forecast unchanged at between £785m and £835m.

Next spooked investors in March when it warned of slower sales growth this year, despite the improving economic environment for British shoppers.

It said that although the consumer environment was "benign", the first half of this year compared with an "amazing" period a year ago when Next hit all the right notes with its fashion ranges, and this coincided with warm weather.

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