Next PLC Trading Statement (9403R)
November 01 2023 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMNXT
RNS Number : 9403R
Next PLC
01 November 2023
Third Quarter Trading Statement - 1 November 2023
HEADLINES
-- Full price sales (1) in the third quarter (August - October)
were up +4.0% on last year, GBP23m ahead of our guidance which
was to be up +2.0%.
-- We are increasing our full year guidance for profit before tax
by +GBP10m to GBP885m.
1. Full price sales are VAT exclusive sales of items sold at
full price in Retail and Online plus NEXT Finance interest income.
They exclude items sold in Sale events, Clearance operations and
through Total Platform. Full price sales are not statutory
sales.
FULL PRICE SALES PERFORMANCE BY BUSINESS DIVISION
Full price sales performance versus last year, by business
division, is set out below for the third quarter and the year to
date.
Full price sales by division versus
last year Q3 to 28 October Year to 28 October
===================================== ================ ==================
Online +6.5% +4.9%
Retail - 0.6% +0.4%
================ ==================
Total Product full price sales +3.8% +3.2%
Finance interest income +7.2% +7.1%
================ ==================
Total full price sales inc. interest
income +4.0% +3.5%
FULL PRICE SALES GROWTH BY WEEK
The chart below shows the performance by week during the third
quarter. As can be seen, sales growth has been variable. We believe
the volatility in sales performance is a result of changing weather
conditions rather than any underlying changes in the consumer
economy. In an Autumn season cooler weather is good for sales,
warmer than average weather depresses sales. Over time the average
performance is a better indicator of underlying consumer demand
than any one week.
Click or paste the following link into your web browser to view
the chart titled 2023 Full Price Sales Variance by Week Versus
2022. Refer to page 1 for this chart.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9403R_1-2023-10-31.pdf
GUIDANCE FOR FULL PRICE SALES, PROFIT AND EARNINGS PER SHARE
Our revised guidance for full year full price sales growth is
now +3.1%; this assumes that full price sales for the rest of the
year are up +2.0%. Profit generated from the additional sales
achieved in the third quarter has added GBP10m to our full year
forecast for profit before tax.
Our revised full year guidance is set out below. For
completeness, our previous guidance is shown in grey.
Versus
Versus Previous last
Full year guidance New guidance last year guidance year
=================================== ============ ========== ========= ======
Full price sales GBP4.74bn +3.1% GBP4.72bn +2.6%
Group (2) profit before tax
(before exceptionals) GBP885m +1.7% GBP875m +0.5%
Pre-tax EPS (before exceptionals) 730.2p +4.1% 723.9p +3.2%
Post-tax EPS (before exceptionals) 557.7p - 2.7% 552.9p - 3.6%
============ ========== ========= ======
2. Group profit before tax excludes the minority interests in
Joules, Reiss and FatFace. This is therefore the profit
attributable to shareholders of NEXT plc.
An exceptional gain of GBP110m
As set out in our Half Year Results in September, the
acquisition of an additional equity stake in Reiss this year will
result in an exceptional accounting gain (non-cash) of around
GBP110m. This gain will be treated as exceptional and is excluded
from the headline profit and EPS numbers given above. Full details
of the transaction and the accounting gain were given on page 59 of
our Half Year Results.
CHRISTMAS TRADING STATEMENT
We are scheduled to give an update on sales to Saturday 30
December on Thursday 4 January 2024.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this Trading Update are forward looking
statements. These statements may contain the words "anticipate",
"believe", "intend", "aim", "expects", "will", or words of similar
meaning. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks,
uncertainties or assumptions that could cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by
those statements. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on
forward looking statements. Except as required by applicable law or
regulation, NEXT plc disclaims any obligation or undertaking to
update these statements to reflect events occurring after the date
these statements were published.
Date: Embargoed until 07:00 hrs, Wednesday 1 November 2023
Contacts: Amanda James, Group Finance Director
(analyst calls) Tel: 0333 777 8888
NEXT PLC
Alistair Mackinnon-Musson Email: next@rowbellpr.com
Rowbell PR Tel: 020 7717 5239
Photographs: https://www.nextplc.co.uk/media/image-gallery/campaign-images
------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------
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