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The high street stalwart made a pre-tax profit of £346.7million for the six months to the end of July, after a £16.5million loss last year and a £327.4million profit in 2019. Group revenues were £2.1billion – up 59 percent on last year and 5.2 percent higher than they were prior to the Covid outbreak.<\/p>\n
As a result, Next chief executive Lord Wolfson expects the retailer to make full-year profits of around £800million, an increase of £36million on its July forecast.<\/p>\n
However, he added that growth is likely to slow. He said: “The last six months have been much better than expected and it has continued into August and September.<\/p>\n
“The bad news is the boost we got from pent-up demand, record savings ratios and people taking fewer holidays overseas will begin to diminish.”<\/p>\n
He said higher shipping costs mean shoppers will probably have to pay more, with homeware prices likely to rise six percent.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, retail magnate Mike Ashley saw investors stage a pay revolt at the annual meeting of his Frasers empire, where 13.7 percent voted against its remuneration report.<\/p>\n