Cold weather delivers festive sales boost for Next

Retailer Next saw full price sales rise 1.5% during the run-up to Christmas, despite forecasting a poor performance for the festive period.

The retailer attributed the uptick in the 54 days to December 24 to the colder weather.

Next reported this morning (January 3) that while store sales dipped 6.1% over the period, online business grew year-on-year by 13.6%.

In November, the company said it expected full price sales to fall by 0.3%.

The result has allowed Next to upgrade its annual profit guidance for the current year to between £718m and £732m, an increase of about £8m.

Where within that range the figure falls, Next said, will depend on its sales in January.