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/

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

Interim Management Statement

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4800920

really upbeat RNS
now fred can tell us that it's all an illusion or a freak and is no reflection at all on uk retail health buoyed by a strongly recovering economy

Sharecast -

Next shares up with events despite strong Q1, says Investec

Wed, 30 April 2014


Shares in Next are up with events, according to Investec, despite a better-than-expected first-quarter update and raised guidance from the high street retail group on Wednesday.

The broker said that stock now trades at 15.8 times current-year estimated earnings, in line with others in the sector.

"We view Next as a core holding, but with the shares trading on a sector average price-to-earnings rating, we believe the valuation is up with events and retain our 'hold' recommendation."

Next Brand sales for the first 13 weeks of the financial year were up 10.8%, with new space contributing 2.2% to growth. This is well ahead of the 4-8% full-year growth guidance the company gave in March.

The company has now raised its growth guidance for total Brand sales for the financial year ending January 2015 to 5.5-9.5%.

Full-year profit before tax (PBT) is expected to total £750-790m, up 8-14% over the year, ahead of the previous target of £730-770m which would have represented 5-11% growth.

Investec has lifted its PBT forecast for the company by 3.6% to £780m but pointed out that Next benefited from weaker comparatives in the first quarter, with last year seeing a particularly cold spring and Easter holiday.

"Comps are expected to get tougher as the year progresses," the broker said.

Investec kept a 6,700p target price for the stock.

The stock was down 0.5% at 6,450p by 11:25.

Next PLC raises guidance and proposes special divi

By John Harrington

April 30 2014, 8:59am
The mid-point of Next's new profit before tax guidance is now £770mln and accordingly it is increasing its share buy back price limit to £64.00.



Fashion chain Next (LON:NXT) is increasing its guidance and paying a special dividend after a strong start to 2014.

Having previously tipped off the market to look for top line growth of between 4% and 8% in fiscal 2014/15, the company has shifted the range higher to 5.5%-9.5%.

The move follows a sparkling first quarter, in which sales were up 10.8% year-on-year, of which just 2.2 percentage points were down to the opening of profitable new space.

Next Retail sales were up 8.8% and Next Directory, the catalogue and online offering, was up 13.7%.

Next is never one to go overboard in its outlook statements and acknowledged that the new guidance range might “look conservative” given it is below the growth levels seen in the first quarter, but noted that the first 13 weeks of the financial year were always likely to show strong growth from a year ago due to the weather in the early weeks of 2013 being particularly cold and miserable.

The company now expects full-year profit before tax to fall in the range of £750mln to £790mln, representing a £20mln increase at both ends of the range over previous guidance.

In recognition of this, the company has proposed a third special dividend of 50p per share, payable to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 11 July. That will bring the total dividend for the year to 143p.

Shares in Next were up 1% at 6,555p after an hour of trading.

1 May Beaufort... N/A Buy
1 May Jefferies... 7,500.00 Buy
1 May Citigroup 7,600.00 Buy
1 May Nomura 7,025.00 Buy
1 May Espirito... 5,500.00 Sell

Next has the longest history of consistent execution. It has first-mover advantage in multi-channel retail and is fully invested with capex of less than 3% sales in the next three years. 'Buy' with a target price of 7,740p is teh broker's view.



http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/columns/broker-spotlight/16193/broker-spotlight-next-vodafone-takeovers-barclays-igas--16193.html

Next- Topped out for now?

why would you think that?

Just looks ripe for a fall.
Two years with hardly a pull back.
Not been near 200MA since August 2011

Dont think there is much left for the "Next" man

Please excuse the pun

i have long liked this company above all others on the high street, and you'll find i have posted as much - they got their fashion-designing mojo back after many years of being fusty and dull

Next also now have a hugely successful on-line business, which i believe is even bigger than ASOS in UK

unfortunately i haven't held the stock for a while as the price (not to be confused with value) is really a bit on the rich side

British retailers set to take on payday lenders with credit union that will offer cheap loans


By Adrian Lowery

Published: 15:16, 31 May 2014 | Updated: 15:34, 31 May 2014

A group of major High Street retailers are taking on controversial payday lenders with plans for a credit union, it was reported today.


In a bid to offer an alternative to the hefty interest rates charged on payday loans, New Look and Next are among names to have signed up to RetailCure.


The scheme is expected to charge interest from roughly 7 per cent to nearly 28 per cent depending upon the borrower's credit history.
High Street giant Next is one of the retailers said to be signed up to RetailCure.

People who borrow £400 over 30 days from a payday loan firm are stung with an interest fee of around £127, while the same loan would cost just £8 from the credit union.


Veteran retailer John Lovering, who has led buyouts of companies including Debenhams, Homebase and Somerfield, will chair the organisation, which is set to be launched later this year.


He told Sky News: 'The industry feels that we have to find a way of providing a source of cheap, reliable credit for our people.



John Lovering in his days at Homebase in 2001.


'The three million in retail and the nearly five million in the wider industry do have a need for low-cost, value-for-money, short-term borrowing facilities, and that's what we as an industry are trying to provide.'


Payday lenders have proliferated on Britain's high street in recent years but with interest rates of up to 5,000 per cent per annum, they have been accused of tempting vulnerable people into a spiral of debt.


The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, waded in to the row last year by saying he wanted to 'compete' payday loan firm Wonga out of business. But the comments sparked embarrassment when it was later revealed that the Church of England's pension fund invested indirectly in Wonga.


Earlier this week the Church of England unveiled a new scheme to pilot a credit union network in three of its dioceses.


Those behind RetailCure say they believe it will ultimately become Britain's biggest credit union by dramatically undercutting payday loan firms.

Next shares suffer heavy slump as fashion director heads for US rival Abercrombie & Fitch


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2654474/Next-shares-suffer-heavy-slump-fashion-director-heads-rival.html

Broker spotlight - Next, Cairn Energy, Genel Energy, Merlin, Seeing Machines ...
By Philip Whiterow
June 30 2014, 12:51pm


Next (LON:NXT) has a tailwind behind it and Credit Suisse expects results next month to confirm the strong momentum.

Even though comparisons and the weather not as helpful, the broker assumes second quarter sales growth of 8% and has raised its full year sales forecast by almost 2% to 7.9%.

Credit Suisse notes though that its current year profit before tax, of £791mln, is at the top of company guidance and about 3% above consensus.

So even though its target price rises to 6,800p from 6,500p, the verdict remains ‘neutral’ down to the demanding long-term assumptions, the likelihood that Next's core customer is relatively sensitive to higher interest rates and recent outperformance.

1 Jul Jefferies... 7,500.00 Buy

Ex dividend Wed 9 July - 93p