NEXT is a UK based retailer offering exciting, beautifully designed, excellent quality

fashion and accessories for men, women and children together with a full range of

homewares# NEXT distributes through three main channels:


■NEXT Retail, a chain of more than 500 stores in the UK and Eire;
■NEXT Directory, a home shopping catalogue and website with around 3 million active customers and international websites serving approximately 50 countries; and
■NEXT International, with almost 200 mainly franchised stores around the world#
Other businesses in the NEXT group include:■NEXT Sourcing, which designs, sources and buys NEXT branded products;
■Lipsy, which designs and sells its own branded younger women's fashion products through retail, internet and wholesale channels; and
The parent company, NEXT plc, is listed on the London Stock Exchange #LSE: NXT#L# and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index# Total revenues for the year ended January 2012 were £3#5 billion with underlying pre-tax profits of £570 million# NEXT's head office is located in Enderby on the outskirts of Leicester, England

http://www.next.co.uk/

Looks like those couple of lines in black type sent out shock waves

cyners (sinners?) deramping post strikes terror yet again!

Just pleased Im at home this morning. No not deramping hard facts. You were right.

was only jewish self-deprecating, gallows humour

Lol, It was should I stay or should I go. If trading does not improve, more South to come.

That line of black type has put doubt in investors minds

Seymour Pierce has reiterated its 'hold' rating for High Street giant Next despite a decent first half, as the company's guidance going into the second half of the year disappointed.

Seymour analyst Kate Calvert said: "On outlook management has stated that ‘if the economy had a weather forecast the outlook would be overcast – patchy rain for the foreseeable’ and in terms of its strategy, it reads a bit like a political manifesto, but it is more of the same as we expect from Next.

"It is a highly cash generative, tightly run company and looks to continue to execute on the basics of giving the consumer great product and capitalising on its leading multi-channel position. The shares are trading virtually at an all time high so we would expect profit taking today."

Sometimes the market changes its mind about a company. When this happens, the price change can be huge.

If the market dismisses a company's prospects unfairly then an opportunity is created for investors that have done their research. A good example of this is Next . Two years ago, the company's share price suggested that its growth was past. Next continued to grow sales and profits. Market perceptions turned; the shares are up 82% in 18 months.

Next's large return on equity figure is a result of the company's very close match between assets and liabilities.

Despite troubles on the high street, shares in Next are up over 60% in the last two years.

Next has successfully diversified into online sales. At the time of the last half-year results, Next Directory (which includes online) reported a 13.3% rise in sales. By comparison, Next's bricks-and-mortar operations managed only a 0.2% increase.

Next has only failed to increase its dividend once since 1998. Analyst consensus is for another two years of double-digit dividend growth at the company. This puts Next on a 2014 yield of 3.1%.

As for profits, these are expected to continue increasing but at a slightly lower rate. Consensus is for a 9.9% rise in earnings per share (eps) in 2013, followed by 9.8% of growth in 2014.

Next (Berlin: NXG.BE - news) : Investec keeps hold rating and 3,680p target

31 Oct 2012Q3 interim management statement

With the UK economy now out of recession, it will be interesting to hear if the chief executive of Next , Lord Wolfson, maintains his notoriously downbeat outlook this week. Next is due to update on trading in the third quarter and analysts are keen to hear how the retailer fared in September after Lord Wolfson said trading had initially been “unusually quiet”. Analysts at Espirito Santo are forecasting flat like-for-like sales and online sales to grow 13pc for the 13 weeks to October 27.

Fashion chain Next should have seen third quarter trading and margins boosted by the colder autumnal weather, Peel Hunt reckons.

"We expect third quarter sales to have recovered well over the past seven weeks and expect to see year-to-date Brand sales back at the top end of guidance, up more than 4%, implying third quarter sales growth of 3.8%. We expect management to endorse current guidance and market expectations, although consensus is likely to drift upwards," the broker said.

i don't hold as i don't care for high street fashion retailers ..... however, it's good to see that Next is dragging itself out of its "Montague Burton" image and aiming more at the Zara market ..... as with many others, it's on-line biz is also growing strongly

if i was to buy into this sector, this would be the one for me

Why don't you gentlemen buy from Savile Row they have a good sale on which ends at midnight tonight. That is if you need any shirts, suits etc.

i wear a suit perhaps 4 times a year and shirts i generally buy from paul smith as i like the quality of thin cotton

Whats a suit ??????

Only place I can find this atm Next PLC IMS - Third Quarter to 27 October 2012

Stronger sales in late September and early October made up for the unusually quiet start to August
Narrowing our full year sales guidance to a range of +3.0% to +4.5%
Next brand sales (vat exclusive) in the third quarter were up +2.7%
Now expect group profit before tax to be in the range 590 million pounds to 620 million pounds (previously 575 million pounds to 620 million pounds).

how far they can go so sp too with sales barely growing...

High street retailer Next (LON:NXT) reassured investors by nudging up its profit forecasts today despite “volatile” third quarter trading.

Next narrowed its full-year pre-tax profits forecasts to between £590 mln and £620 mln after previously pointing to between £575 mln and £620 mln.

This comes as the FTSE 100 retailer narrowed its full-year sales growth guidance to somewhere in the region of 3% to 4.5%, with total sales in the final quarter tipped to match sales so far this year.

Next, which specialises in clothing but also sells homeware, said brand sales rose 2.7% in the third quarter to October 27, with stronger sales in late September and early October making up for the “unusually quiet start to August”.

Sales excluding VAT at its stores lifted 1.1%, while the online Directory business fared better, with 5.6% sales growth.

“Overall sales performance remains volatile, making it hard to draw conclusions from any one short period of time,” the retailer said.

Shares dipped 20 pence or 0.55% to 3,585 pence.

Next: Seymour Pierce ups target from 3,350p to 3,500p, hold rating kept; Panmure Gordon keeps hold rating and 3,770p target; Investec keeps hold rating and 3,680p target