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/

On Wednesday, Next PLC (NXT:LSE) closed at 7,230, 0.00% below its 52-week high of 7,230, set on Jan 26, 2015.

30 Jan Exane BNP... 7,700.00 Neutral

2 Feb Jefferies... 6,000.00 Underperform

at least jefferies are consistent ...... i think nearly all their comments are negative, but then i'm not bullish of the markets in general either

Dividend Declaration - Special Dividend
RNS
RNS Number : 1424E
Next PLC
05 February 2015



Dividend Declaration - Special Dividend Payable 1 May 2015


Next has a well established policy of returning surplus cash to shareholders through share buybacks or special dividends. This week we paid the special dividend of 50p per share which we announced in our Trading Statement of 30 December.



In our December statement we set out how we would determine the price limit for share buybacks. Using the lower end of our January 2016 profit guidance and an 8% Equivalent Rate of Return investment hurdle, the price limit calculated was £67.


Since that time our share price has remained above £67 and we have been unable to return cash through share buybacks. We are therefore announcing today a further special dividend, of 60p per share, to be paid 1 May 2015 to shareholders on the Company's register at close of business on 10 April. The shares will trade ex-dividend from 9 April.



We are forecasting that, at the lower end of our profit guidance for the coming year, we will generate around £360m of surplus cash. If we are unable to buy back shares, we currently intend to return this cash in four quarterly special dividends of approximately £90m each, which equates to 60p per share per quarter, the first of which is announced today. We intend to continue to give around three months' notice of special dividends.


The increase in our special dividend (from 50p to 60p per share) reflects our expectations for cash flow in the year ahead and is not a reflection of current trade. It should not be taken as an indication of any improvement in the trading or profit outlook for the Company since our December statement. We remain cautious for the year ahead and are not changing our buyback price limit or profit guidance at this time.



Our full year results to January 2015 will be announced on Thursday 19 March and at that time we will give further information on share buybacks and special dividends for the year ahead.





S L Anderson

Company Secretary

i'll say one thing for these guys, they do their best to look after the shareholders with special divis and similar

Next PLC (NXT:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 7,375. Over this period, the share price is up 12.46%.

Next PLC (NXT:LSE) set a new 52-week high during today's trading session when it reached 7,525. Over this period, the share price is up 11.36%.

11 Mar Investec 7,000.00 Hold
11 Mar Barclays... N/A Equal weight

13 Mar Exane BNP... 7,700.00 Neutral

RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING JANUARY 2015

19 Mar Investec 7,000.00 Hold
19 Mar Canaccord... 7,500.00 Buy
19 Mar Espirito... 5,500.00 Sell
19 Mar Cantor... 7,100.00 Buy

.proactiveinvestors.next-profits-jump-but-chief-lord-wolfson-stays-cautious.

20 Mar Canaccord... 7,500.00 Hold
20 Mar Societe... 7,228.00 Hold
20 Mar Beaufort... N/A Buy
20 Mar Jefferies... 6,000.00 Underperform
20 Mar Citigroup 7,900.00 Buy
20 Mar JP Morgan... 7,100.00 Neutral
20 Mar Nomura 7,200.00 Neutral
20 Mar Deutsche Bank 6,950.00 Hold

dailymail, Next-set-overtake-M-S-sales-4bn.

Special dividend - Ex dividend 09 Apr 2015 Next PLC (60 P)

broker-spotlight-next-


JP Morgan meanwhile liked the look of Next (LON:NXT) and swapped its 'neutral' stance for an 'overweight', raising its share price target to £77.

Proactive investor wednesdays-agenda-next-and-barclays-trading-statements-among-those-expected-

High Street fashion group Next saw shares fall last month, when it released full year numbers, and adopted a cautious tone on prospects for this year.

Overall sales increased by 7.2%, exceeding £4bn, which was the top end of guidance issued by the firm back in March 2014, and forecast pre-tax profit for 2015 of between £785mln and £835mln.

In its first quarter trading update on Wednesday , no doubt tradres will be interested to hear if there is any change in the forecast for sales growth of between 2.5% and 7.5% in 2015/16 and what guidance range is provided for full year profits, said the broker The Share Centre, which rates the stock 'hold'.

Investment research manager Sheridan Admans added: "The market will also be interested in any news of further special dividend payments."

The company has already announced a 60p special dividend to be paid in May and said it will consider further payments, if the share price remains above £68.27.

The broker also noted that since Next's chief executive is Lord Wolfson, a Conservative peer, it will be interesting to hear if there are any comments about how the imminent general election on May 7 may affect the group.

Trading Statement

Market Buzz

Next's strong Q1 update underpins full-year forecasts, says Investec

Wed, 29 April 2015


Next's strong Q1 update underpins full-year forecasts, says Investec



Next Quote more



Price: 7,305.00

Chg: 140.00

Chg %: 1.95%

Date: 15:19



FTSE 100 Quote


Price: 6,957.03 Chg: -73.50 Chg %: -1.05% Date: 15:20

Next surpassed forecasts with its first-quarter sales update on Wednesday, though Investec maintained a 'hold' rating on the stock.
The Anglo-South African bank said that the high street fashion and homeware retailer remains a "core holding" but pointed out that the stock is trading at 17 times current-year estimated earnings, compared with the wider sector at a multiple of 16.5.

"A positive Q1 trading update should be positively viewed: full-price growth of 3.2% benefitted slightly from the timing of a new range launch, but remains ahead of consensus, and the exit rate likely to have picked up as trading conditions improved," said analyst Alistair Davies.

Investec had pencilled in a 1.5% increase in full-year price brand sales, while the consensus forecast was for growth of 2%.

"Directory performance is encouraging given caution on credit customer file at prelims, with additional growth angles (cash/label/international) underpinning numbers in our view," Davies said.

Investec's full-year pre-tax profit forecast of £833m sits at the top end of company guidance of £785m-835m.

With the shares remaining above Next's buyback price limit of 6,827p over the first quarter, the company did not repurchase stock during the period but announced that it would pay a special dividend of 60p a share in August.

Davies said that, based on existing guidance of surplus cash returns of £360m, there is scope for a further 70p-a-share payout in the second half.

The broker maintained a 7,000p target price for the stock, which was up 2.8% at 7,367.2p by 11:19.