Retailer Next upgrades profit outlook for fifth time in eight months

The group also gave guidance for its 2024/25 year, forecasting sales up 6.0% and profit up 5%

Next said it expected pre-tax profit before exceptional items for the year to January 2024 of £905m (€1.05bn)

Clothing retailer Next raised its profit forecast on Thursday for the year to the end of January 2024 for the fifth time in eight months as it reported a better-than-expected 5.7% rise in full-price sales for the nine weeks to December 30th.

The group, which trades from around 460 stores in Ireland and the UK and has an online presence in over 70 countries, is often considered a useful gauge of how British consumers are faring.