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/

HSBC downgrades Next from overweight to neutral, target price increased from 3,640p to 3,725p

1

So you started a thread then! :-)

Lol. skinny. A very intriguing share, with I hope a lot more in the tank with the good news.

of the high street shares, none of which i hold, i can honestly say that i have posted a number of times on ASC that NXT was the share of choice - if any ..... as far as i can see, they are trying hard to break their fuddy-duddy image and to become more like Zara, which is a very cleverly run outfit ..... clearly NXT's venture into on-line shopping is also paying dividends ...... for all that, their next(!!) set of figures may well disappoint thanks to bad weather and the dearth of visitors to london for the olympics (blame those stupendously greedy hotels; glad they've been badly singed!)

The chief exec has stated what recession? They are not seeing one. Online sales through the roof, due to summer bad weather and customers not getting to the shops.
M & S badly being hit by Next. M & S have even blamed the weather on poor clothes sales. Clearly Next well set up and M & S still have to follow the learning curve.

They have even stated the olympics has had an adverse affect on London stores but will not have much of an impact on figures.
Shore capital have said the figures show Next to be a class act, that will place pressure on M & S.

Next (Xetra: 779551 - news)

Next , the high-street fashion chain, climbed to yet another new high today, reaching 3,589p just before midday, before slipping back a few pennies to 3,580p as I write.

The most recent surge, which has helped the shares gain 57% over the past 12 months, started on 1 August with a 6.5% jump to 3,427p after the firm issued a trading update, lifting its guidance to between £575 million and £620 million in annual profits.

The latest forecasts suggest a dividend of 2.7% this year and 2.9% next year, which makes the shares look high enough to me

New 12 month highs yet again here!

Next branches out into garden centres


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9470713/Next-branches-out-into-garden-centres.html

the old saying of stick to your last all too often proves true in industry ..... i do not see this as a "good move" as it has no connection with the core business

Uncrossed at new high 3638p.

On 13 September we'll have half-time results from one of the UK's stronger high-street retailers, fashion purveyor Next (Xetra: 779551 - news) . Widely considered a very well-managed company, Next has seen its shares pile up more than 50% over the past 12 months to 3,590p, which puts them on quite a high price-to-earnings (P/E) valuation based on current forecasts -- 13 for the year ending January, falling a little to 12 for 2014 predictions. And the dividend yield is around a modest 3%.

But it looks like we should have decent results to back up that valuation, with last month's trading update telling us of an overall 4.5% rise in Next brand sales, with the bulk of that, 13%, coming from Next Directory. At the same time, the company lifted and narrowed its full-year guidance, suggesting a pre-tax profit of between £575m and £620m -- the mid-point of that range would represent a 4.75% rise over the same period last year.

NXT seemingly got a downgrade from neutral to outperform .... work that one out if you can!!!!

Next (Xetra: 779551 - news) : Nomura lifts target from 3,500p to 3,900p, buy rating kept.

Next is one of the few high-street retailers that is thriving today.

However, go back just a few years and Next shares were suffering badly. In the second half of 2008, the shares fell as low as 838p.

The growth being enjoyed by online fashion retailers, most notably ASOS (Other OTC: ASOMF.PK - news) , left investors speculating whether Next had been left behind. These sentiments drove Next shares down to less than six times the previous year's earnings.

Since the bear market ended, Next has been proving itself to investors with increased earnings and dividends. A payout of 101p is expected for 2013 (Next has a Janary year-end) -- nearly double the dividend for 2008 and 2009. Earnings per share is expected to hit 274.3p, a 9.3% advance on 2012 and 73% higher than the 2009 result. Next Directory (which includes online) sales are now 40% higher than they were five years ago. It appears that Next has got online licked.

Although Next reported a slight dip in eps for 2009, the dividend was never cut throughout the worst of the crisis.

Next plc - RESULTS FOR THE HALF YEAR TO JULY 2012

NEXT has made a better than expected start to the year, with Group revenue up 4.8% and profit 10.2% ahead of last year. We returned a further £112m to shareholders through share buybacks which, together with lower tax rates, boosted the increase in earnings per share to 18.7%. We are increasing the interim dividend by 12.7% to 31p per share.



Financial highlights are as follows:

•
Revenue up 4.8% to £1,640m

•
Profit up 10.2% to £251m

•
Net cash inflow of £168m before dividends and £112m of share buybacks

•
Earnings per share up 18.7% to 118.5p

•
Interim dividend up 12.7% to 31p per


http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4444142

definitely one against the head given the awful time so many retailers have had over the last several months due to the vile weather earlier followed by the olympics ...... it was almost eery how quiet central london was during that time

Together with the John Lewis results, there may be some upside in the sector today.

now the caveat as picked up from reuters!

half year revenue rose 4.8 percent to 1.64 billion stg * Auto alert - Next Plc interim dividend 31 pence per share * Profit up 10.2% to £251M * Earnings per share up 18.7% to 118.5P * August and early September sales have been disappointing during what has been an unusually quiet period * We remain cautious about the economic outlook* Maintaining full year guidance that sales, profits and earnings per share will all move forward on last year