Next profits to hit top end

5th May 2010 07:07

Next expects profits this year to be at the top end of market forecasts after sales in the first three months to April were strong, though it is still very cautious on the outlook for consumer spending."Our internal profit before tax forecasts are towards the top end of the range of current City forecasts, most of which fall between £525m and £565m", it said.Total sales over the past three months were at the top end of expectations at 4.1%. Like-for-like sales rose by 2.2% including direct sales. The Directory sales forecast for the current year has been revised up by 1% as a result, though the retail forecast remains unchanged.The new sales forecasts are a range of minus 2.5% to 0.5% for Next Retail and 0.5 to 3.5% including direct sales, which are unchanged. Next Directory revenues are now forecast in a range of 2-5%, up from 2-4% previously. In the event of Retail like for like sales coming in at the bottom of the range, Next expects operating margin to increase by around 1%. "We remain very cautious in our outlook for the year ahead. Prior year comparisons become more demanding as the year progresses and we anticipate that a new Government will have to take action to tackle the budget deficit," Next said, but added "nothing new nothing new has occurred since March to diminish our expectation for another year of growth in sales, profits, EPS and dividends."