Next Directory sales rose 8.9 per cent in the 14 weeks to May 4 while stores sales, including new openings, fell 1.9 per cent. It said it expects profit for the year to be between £615 million and £665 million.
Next published a graph with its statement this morning (showing sales variance rather than total sales) to show how volatile total trading has been for the past three months:
The Company said in its statement: 'It is apparent that the poor March figures were down to an abnormally cold spring, equally the good weeks since mid April have been boosted by pent up demand from the previous month. We believe that neither period is indicative of any significant change in the underlying economy.'
'We remain cautious about the consumer environment. We anticipate that the continuing decline in real earnings will depress discretionary spending for at least the next eighteen months, if not longer,' the company said. Last month chief executive Simon Wolfson gave part of his bonus to staff.
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