NEXT plc said full-price sales rose 8.1 per cent in the third quarter to 31 October 2026. That was £33m ahead of its second-half guidance of 5.8 per cent growth. The company said all of the extra sales came from international trading.
UK and international
UK full-price sales rose 2.0 per cent, in line with guidance. UK online sales rose 4.4 per cent and store sales fell 1.7 per cent. Next said unseasonably warm weather in September held back UK demand.
Online international full-price sales rose 32.2 per cent, against a forecast of 20.5 per cent:
- direct overseas sales were up 32.7 per cent
- sales through third-party aggregators were up 31.3 per cent.
Next said more profitable marketing let it raise international marketing spend by 67 per cent year on year.
Guidance
Next made these changes to its guidance:
- Full-year profit before tax guidance is unchanged at £1,255m, up 8.4 per cent.
- Full-price sales guidance rises to £6.03bn, up 7.3 per cent.
- Total group sales guidance is £7.54bn.
Next expects about £5m of net extra cost this year from new EU tariffs on some online orders sent from outside the EU. It expects to offset these over time through operational changes and selective price rises.
The next sales update is due on 6 January 2027, covering trading to 26 December 2026.
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