Chairman John Barton says 2016 will be "a challenging year with much uncertainty in the global economy". Continue to see videos after the cut
Total group sales rose by 3% to £4.1bn, helped by a 7.7% rise in sales for Next Directory, the retailer's online and catalogue business.
Pre-tax profits in the year to 23 January were £821.3m, up from £794.8m for the year to 24 January 2015.
The news came with a warning, however, as chairman John Barton said the company was looking towards "a challenging year with much uncertainty in the global economy", adding that they were bracing themselves for a fall in profits of up to 4.5%.
Following the words, shares in the group fell to the their lowest level for more than two years - down as much as 10%.
But the sentiments were echoed by chief executive Lord Wolfson, who said that, as well as his cautious analysis of the economy, he also thought spending would return to the areas previously hit by the credit crunch, moving away from clothing and towards things such as travel, recreation and going out.
He added: "The year ahead may well be the toughest we have faced since 2008.
"In many ways we have more to do than ever before with complex challenges to our working practices across product, marketing and systems.
"It may well feel like walking up the down escalator, with a great deal of effort required to standstill.
"It will not be the first time we have felt this way, and our experience is that the effort put into improving the business in tough times can pay handsome rewards when conditions improve."
The company named its objectives for 2016 as developing the brand, upgrading the Directory, investing in its online business and "profitable new retail space" and to control costs "without detracting from the quality of our products and services".
It also noted changes such as just 37% of online orders being placed on desktop computers last year – down from 95% five years ago.
Also, just 45% of orders were delivered to a customer’s home last year – with the rest being delivered for collection from a store.
This was around half of the 87% of orders being delivered to homes in 2010.
The result comes just two months after the High Street giant blamed "unusually warm weather" in November and December as it posted a 0.5% fall in full-price sales in a trading update covering the key Christmas period. Source Sky News/ TEB News
Fashion retailer Next has announced a rise in annual pre-tax profits but its chairman has warned of a "challenging" year ahead.
Pre-tax profits in the year to 23 January were £821.3m, up from £794.8m for the year to 24 January 2015.
The news came with a warning, however, as chairman John Barton said the company was looking towards "a challenging year with much uncertainty in the global economy", adding that they were bracing themselves for a fall in profits of up to 4.5%.
Following the words, shares in the group fell to the their lowest level for more than two years - down as much as 10%.
But the sentiments were echoed by chief executive Lord Wolfson, who said that, as well as his cautious analysis of the economy, he also thought spending would return to the areas previously hit by the credit crunch, moving away from clothing and towards things such as travel, recreation and going out.
He added: "The year ahead may well be the toughest we have faced since 2008.
"In many ways we have more to do than ever before with complex challenges to our working practices across product, marketing and systems.
"It may well feel like walking up the down escalator, with a great deal of effort required to standstill.
The company named its objectives for 2016 as developing the brand, upgrading the Directory, investing in its online business and "profitable new retail space" and to control costs "without detracting from the quality of our products and services".
It also noted changes such as just 37% of online orders being placed on desktop computers last year – down from 95% five years ago.
Also, just 45% of orders were delivered to a customer’s home last year – with the rest being delivered for collection from a store.
This was around half of the 87% of orders being delivered to homes in 2010.
The result comes just two months after the High Street giant blamed "unusually warm weather" in November and December as it posted a 0.5% fall in full-price sales in a trading update covering the key Christmas period. Source Sky News/ TEB News
3 comments:
It challenging
The uncertainty in global economy is much this days
Wtf
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