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/

Next: Jefferies raises target price from 7000p to 7500p and keeps a buy recommendation.

How Next has usurped M&S to rule the high street
Telegraph
By Graham Ruddick | Telegraph – 10 hours ago

Clothing retailer to report larger profits than Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) for first time

It has not been a good week for the traditional names in British retailing.

Billions of pounds were wiped off the value of the leading supermarkets because of fears that a price war to combat the rise of discounters and online shopping will erode profit margins.

However, there is one high street stalwart that is thriving in the face of the retail revolution. Next (Dusseldorf: NXG.DU - news) has quietly usurped Marks & Spencer as the clothing king of the high street.

Next shares are up 59pc in the past year and an extraordinary 469pc in the past five years. At its closing price on Friday night, Next was valued at £10.2bn, compared with £7.5bn for M&S.

This week, Next will report larger annual profits than rival M&S for the first time in its relatively young history. After sales rose by 11.9pc during the vital Christmas period despite rivals suffering from widespread discounting Next increased its forecast for annual profits from £650m-£680m to £684m-£700m.

The reasons for the success of Next are not immediately obvious when you walk into its stores. Its clothing is regularly dismissed as uninspiring and it has sites on ailing high streets across the country.

Yet, despite only being founded in 1982, it has become as popular with customers as its 130-year-old rival.

Lord Wolfson, chief executive, and his management team are hugely admired across the industry. At Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct (Frankfurt: A0MK5S - news) , Next is regularly seen as the benchmark for running an efficient retail business across stores and the internet.

The retailer was founded by George Davies, who is also known for George at Asda and Per Una at M&S. At Next he created a new destination for women looking for smart office clothing or casualwear.

However, it was transformed into a FTSE 100 business by Sir David Jones, who succeeded Davies in 1988 at a time when Next was floundering financially.

Lord Wolfson, who worked as Sir David’s assistant, built on this when he became chief executive in 2001.

Perhaps more than any other FTSE retailer, Next is focused on the long term, rather than quarterly trading updates. Lord Wolfson refuses to report like-for-like sales, so Next only reports total sales.

One look at the executive management team confirms this focus. Lord Wolfson joined Next 23 years ago, while Christos Angelides, the highly regarded product director, joined as a trainee menswear buyer in 1986. Meanwhile, finance director David Keens has been on the Next board for 23 years, Jane Shields, the sales and marketing director, started as a shop assistant in 1985 and Michael Law, the operations director, worked in a Next Directory call centre in 1995.

A senior retail figure close to the board said that Next has benefited from being out of the public eye in Leicester, which has led to the creation of the so-called “Enderby family”, named after its Leicestershire base.

The source said that Next is operated with a “single-minded purpose” to grow earnings per share. “They are unwilling to be diverted by anything that will detract from that,” the source added.

This has allowed the business to justify long-term investments in key infrastructure, such as IT and the supply chain. Next also refused to join in with the rest of the high street by cutting prices before Christmas, sticking to its strategy of holding only two major promotional events every year.

Lord Wolfson, a Conservative peer, is engaging company but is deeply analytical. He is renowned for illustrating Next’s results with graphs to explain the health of the retailer and the economy.

“He is a brilliant CEO, if a little command and control,” the source said. “But he is Next. All decisions rest with him.”

Those decisions include committing early to online retailing and services such as click-and-collect. In the new generation of retailing, Next has benefited enormously from already having a catalogue business, Next Directory. The company knows how to deliver fashion from its warehouses to a customer’s home efficiently.

Fraser Ramzan, an analyst at Nomura, said: “In Directory the introduction of free next-day-to-store delivery if ordered by 10pm has been a service proposition that others have struggled to match and the group’s online participation is already higher than most.”

In the pre-Christmas period, Next Directory sales soared by 21pc. The Directory offers unsecured credit to customers to make purchases, an attractive proposition for cash-strapped households.

Shareholders are now basking in this success after Lord Wolfson pledged to distribute Next’s unused cash through special dividends.

There is likely to be more success to come. The company’s clothing range this Christmas was considered a step-up in quality and fashion across womenswear, menswear and childrenswear.

Next is also investing in its homewares range. The company’s new stores are increasingly located out-of-town and look more like department stores than clothes shops, with some including garden centres.

Next is already taking on M&S, but John Lewis is also in its sights. Rivals bewa

Thursday -
Also in the diary are Next’s (LON:NXT) final results.

The clothing retailer has been one of the standout performers on the High Street, which has in general been in decline.

Shares have hit all-time highs recently following bumper Christmas sales that were “significantly ahead of our expectations”.

In that trading update, the company raised its profit guidance to between £684mln and £700mln for the 12 months to January 25.

The bottom end of this range would represent 10% growth, while the upper end would imply a 12.6% increase.

Retail guru Nick Bubb will be glued to the numbers and says that if there are any surprises, it is likely to be a welcome one.

“After a terrific Q4, the PBT [pre-tax profit] guidance range moved up to £684m-700m and, if the past is any guide, then it would be safe to look for at least £700m, versus the £615m-665m range set out 12 months ago,” he said in a note.

“We will also be interested to hear about the prospects for more special dividends and the thinking behind Next’s new branded fashion catalogue Label.”


http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/market_reports/66835/day-ahead-fed-decision-reaction-next-results-66835.html

on the basis of wall street tonight, it is likely that it will be possible to buy NXT cheaper tomorrow, almost regardless of the numbers .... worth remembering

The chart is impressive....even during the bad times the sp stood its ground ...remarkable.....missed out here.....damn.....never was keen on the retailers.....my mistake....

Results For The Year Ending January 2014

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4776088

Market pleasing - Next Plc FY pretax profit rises 11.8% to £695.2m

Next enjoys strong sales and profit growth

StockMarketWire.com

Fashion retailer Next said it has had another good year, achieving 5.4% growth in sales to £3.74bn and 11.8% growth in underlying profit before tax to £695.2m.

Strong cash generation enabled it to buy back 3.8% of shares outstanding without increasing financial leverage which, along with a lower tax rate, resulted in earnings per share (EPS) growing much faster than profits.

In the year to January 2014, underlying post-tax EPS grew by 23% to 366.1p.

Full year dividend is being increased in line with EPS, to 129p in total.

John Barton, Chairman, said:

'The year to January 2014 was a great year for NEXT. Underlying earnings per share grew by 23% to 366p and we propose to increase our full year ordinary dividends by 23% to 129p in total. This is the fifth consecutive year that our earnings per share and ordinary dividend have grown by over 15%. In addition, in February we paid a special dividend of 50p a share and have announced a further special dividend of 50p to be paid in May.

Sales for NEXT Directory, our online and catalogue business, grew by 12.4% narrowing the gap with NEXT Retail, which grew by 1.7%. The two businesses are complementary and support each other in an effective and efficient way. Operating margins in both businesses increased during the year. The Group's underlying profit before tax rose 11.8% to £695m.

Cash flow was again strong and we continued our share buybacks, purchasing 6.2 million shares at an average price of £47.40 and reducing our shares in issue by 3.8%. During the year we returned £461m to shareholders through share buybacks and dividends.

Our share price again performed well, rising by 55% to £62.80. As a result of the increase, we stopped buying back our own shares at the end of October and have instead started to return surplus cash to shareholders through special dividends. We will reconsider buybacks when to do so would give an effective 8% return on the cash invested.

During the year there have been a number of changes to the Board. Andrew Varley, who had been a director for 23 years, retired from the Board in May 2013. Andrew has been with NEXT for 29 years, serving in various senior roles. On behalf of the Board I would like to thank him for all he has done for NEXT, particularly as our Group Property Director.

Christine Cross, who has made a much valued and active contribution to the Group as a Non-Executive Director, has served for 9 years and will step down from the Board at the AGM in May. We are currently searching for a new non-executive and will make an announcement in due course. Jonathan Dawson, our Senior Independent Director who has also served 9 years, has agreed to stay on the Board for one further year.

I am delighted to welcome onto the Board Michael Law, our Group Operations Director, and Jane Shields, our Group Sales and Marketing Director. Both joined the Board last July.

The strength of our Group is built on the hard work and productivity of our management team and all the people who work for NEXT. I would like to thank them all for their contribution during the year and especially for the excellent performance through the busy Christmas period.

That performance gives us a solid platform for 2014. Our strategy remains the same, focused on our products, our profitability and returning cash to our shareholders. Notwithstanding the continued pressure on the UK consumer, we anticipate another year of growth for NEXT.

Next: Deutsche Bank raises target price from 6100p to 6300p and retains its hold recommendation. Nomura increases target price from 6500p to 7025p and maintains a buy recommendation. Citi takes target price from 7000p to 7400p and leaves its buy recommendation unaltered. Barclays increases target price from 5650p to 6200p and retains an equal-weight rating.

UBS hikes target price for Next by a quarter

Tue, 25 March 201


UBS has hiked its target price for Next by nearly a quarter after the High Street retailer raised its guidance for the current financial year.

Alongside its annual results last week, Next said it now expects 4-8% growth in Brand sales for the year ending January 2015, compared with the 1-4% estimate it gave the year before.

UBS has lifted its target from 5,650p to 7,000p, but kept a ‘neutral’ rating on the stock.

The shares trade at 17 times earnings for the 2014 calendar year, which UBS said is a modest premium to the sector and well ahead of the stock’s long-term average.

“However, given strong and stable cash flows, and international potential, we think a premium is justified,” it said.

UBS pointed out that Next’s Brand sales growth in the year just gone was the strongest since 2006.

“As well as improving sales trends, what marks Next out is the ability to trade full price, which helps gross margin, brand strength and gifting sales.

“As its original customer base ages (the chain was aimed at 20-30 year old women at launch 30 years ago), Next has also succeeded in filling the pipe at the younger end through focusing on fashion as well as style, and widening the appeal of the brand to other product categories.”

The stock was 1.1% higher at 6,790p by 10:43 on Tuesday

Lol.

I know someone who bought these at 75p years ago and still have them.

Next PLC (NXT:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 6,960. Over this period, the share price is up 59.44%.

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Ex divi Wed 2 April - 50.0p

The boss of Next NXT.L , Britain's second-biggest clothing retailer, is to hand his 4 million pound ($6.70 million) bonus to the company's staff, sharing it amongst them as a 1.5 percent boost to their annual salaries. Next's chief executive, Simon Wolfson cited the company's strong performance for his decision to share the annual award with Next's 20,000 staff, the second time he has done so. Over the last three years, the retailer's profits per share have grown 65 percent and its share price has trebled. "As a result of these exceptional gains, my share matching plan (SMP) bonus has become more valuable than I could possibly have hoped. I am also in the very fortunate position to have significantly benefited as a shareholder," Wolfson, who sits in Britain's upper house of Parliament, said in the letter. "In these circumstances, instead of accepting the award, I have asked the board if they will share it amongst all those who have worked for the company during the three year SMP qualifying period." The bonus would be paid in May to all employees who have worked with the firm since April 28, 2011. In March, Next posted a 12 percent rise in annual profits to 695.2 million pounds, driven by booming sales at its online business - a figure likely to top that of rival Marks & Spencer MKS.L for the first time.

15 Apr Espirito... 5,500.00 Sell

23 Apr Deutsche Bank 6,300.00 Hold