Next: Upgrade estimates for full-year sales and earnings

Retailer Next defied negative sentiment and upgraded full-year sales and profits after good weather in June and July drove trading better than expected.

With food retailers warning that consumers have started to cut back on spending due to double-digit inflation, analysts and investors have turned cautious on the UK economy as households face the biggest squeeze since the 1950s.

Next, which has around 500 brick-and-mortar and online stores, said good weather helped boost sales, while the post-pandemic return to formal events such as weddings boosted its momentum.

Still, he did not expect the pace of growth to continue as the one-off impact from good weather fades and inflation hits consumers.

Sales rose 5% in the second quarter from the same period last year, £50m higher than the company’s previous estimates.

Next said it now expected sales to grow 6.2% in 2022-2023, up from previous estimates of 5%.

It raised estimates for pre-tax profit by £10m to £860m ($1.04bn).