Next set to reveal profit increases amidst tariff uncertainty
Next is expected to post rising profits next week despite a string of costs increases hitting retailers and broader concerns about UK consumer confidence.
The retail giant will reveal its first quarter results on May 8, hot on the heels of profits of more than £1bn last year.
Next, which has more than 450 stores across the UK, reported pre-tax profits of £1.01bn for the year to January, up 10 per cent compared with the previous year.
Its boss, Lord Simon Wolfson, said trading in the opening part of this financial year had been better than expected at the recent update.
Next raised its guidance for 2025-26 in response, pencilling in sales growth of 5 per cent to £5.3bn and profits up 5.4 per cent to £1.07bn.
But Next, like other retailers, has had to contend with a slew of cost increases since it posted its full-year results in March.
National insurance contributions (Nics), a tax which makes it more expensive to employ people, went up in April, along with the minimum wage.
Meanwhile, UK consumer confidence has also fallen to the lowest level in more than a year amid concerns that Donald Trump’s trade tariffs could push up living costs, according to a recent poll by data company GfK.
And Next, which sells its products online to the US market, could also see a knock-on impact from Mr Trump’s tariffs on sales.
Russ Mould, an analyst at AJ Bell, said Next has a “knack of exceeding expectations – a knack it demonstrated again in March when chief executive Simon Wolfson nudged up expectations for full-price sales and pre-tax profits for the year to January 2026”.
He added: “That positive steer has helped take Next’s shares to new all-time highs, despite wider stock market volatility.”
Shares were up 27 per cent for the year-to-date on Friday.
Next has already said it will have to raise prices by around 1 per cent to offset the impact of Nics and minimum wage increases.
Its first quarter results come amid a string of cyber attacks against UK retailers, with Marks & Spencer and Harrods facing issues in recent days.
As of Friday morning, M&S was unable to process online orders after shutting down parts of its online systems to deal with a “cyber incident”.
M&S first reported the issue over the Easter weekend but has seen its operations impacted for more than a week.
By Alex Daniel, PA Business Reporter