Next raises forecast as Christmas sales defy retail gloom

The retailer expects an annual pretax profit of £860m (€973m) after full-price sales unexpectedly rose in the last weeks of the year.

Next is forecasting cost inflation to peak at 8% in the spring-summer season and then no more than 6% in the second half.

Next Plc raised its profit forecast as a December cold snap brought British shoppers into stores in search of winter clothing, defying gloom about weakening consumption and the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

The retailer now expects an annual pretax profit of £860m (€973m) after full-price sales unexpectedly rose in the last weeks of the year. The company also forecast inflation to peak in the spring-summer season and moderate in the second half. The stock rose as much as 9.3%.