Fashion chain Next raises profits forecast
UK Fashion retailer Next offered further cheer from the high street today as it raised profit forecasts after better-than-expected trading.
The group said the consumer environment was "more stable than expected" after unemployment rose less than predicted and shoppers benefited from low inflation and interest rates.
Next grew like-for-like sales 3.2% in the 22 weeks to December 24 and now expects full-year profits of between £490m (€546.8m) and £500m (€557.9m) - ahead of its November guidance.
The retailer's positive figures came after John Lewis said it had notched up more than half a billion pounds in sales across its department stores in a record-breaking festive season.
Next added that its post-Christmas sale had "gone well", but also sounded a cautionary note over 2010 and said the outlook was "hard to gauge".
The firm warned it "does not necessarily expect the year ahead to be as good as the previous six months" as the scale of the action needed to tackle the UK's dire public finances threatens a consumer recovery.
Next added that possible tax hikes, UK government spending cuts and rising interest rates could hit shoppers in 2010.
