.... And Next Also Plans Massive Foreign Push Into China And Brazil

Next plans to launch online in China and Brazil this year as part of an international push that increase overseas internet sales by 50 per cent.

The push by its Directory division will include 12 new foreign territories will include Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Malta and Cyprus. Next increased international sales by 86 per cent to £101 million during the year to January.

It will also begin translating its site into French, Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Hebrew and Simplified Chinese - following its initial conversion to Traditional Chinese last year.

It forecast today that will increase to £150 million in the current financial year - still a fraction of its £1.34 billion overall Directory sales, which mainly come from the UK. Next Directory's overseas growth still managed to contribute 3.9 per cent of Directory's 12.4 per cent in the year.

All overseas sales are currently serviced from Next's UK warehouses and through third party distribution networks.

The international business 'is still relatively small and it would be a mistake to over‐emphasise its importance,' Next said in its full-year profit report today. But it said it 'continued to make good progress.'

It already operates versions of its site in German and Russian and is extending payment facilities to include local e-wallets such as Qiwi (Russia) and payment platforms such as Paypal.

Other new territories this year will include Oman, Arabia, Belarus, Libya, Malta, Cyprus, Lebanon and Azerbajan.