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Next PLC announced on 05 August 2026 that full price sales in the second quarter increased by +9.2% versus last year, exceeding forecasts by £70m. The company subsequently upgraded its full year pre-tax profit guidance by +£25m to £1,243m, a +7.3% increase on last year, with £15m attributed to sales and £10m to equity investments. Additionally, Next PLC expects to complete £524m in share buybacks this year, an increase of £14m from previous guidance.
| Date | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Time | 07:00:04 |
| Category | Trading updates |
| ID | 2902P |
Trading Statement for Quarter 2
5 August 2026
Full price sales1 in the second quarter were up +9.2% versus last year. This was materially ahead of our forecast for the period of +4.0%.
Sales were £70m ahead of forecast (£19m in the UK and £51m overseas). We believe this over-performance was due to the following:
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The weather in the UK was as warm as last year's exceptional summer, which we had not anticipated. |
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The release of some pent-up demand in the Middle East and Northern Europe after a weaker first quarter in both territories. |
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We were able to spend much more on profitable marketing than we had anticipated. |
We are increasing our full year pre-tax profit guidance2 by +£25m to £1,243m, up +7.3% on last year. There are two elements to this upgrade:
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The addition of £70m of full price sales added +£15m of profit. |
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The performance of our equity investments has been better than expected and we are increasing our forecast for full year profit by +£10m. |
We are maintaining our guidance for full price sales for the rest of the year to be up +5.0% versus last year.
1. Full price sales include all items sold in Retail Stores and Online, including third-party brands, plus NEXT Finance interest income, but excludes Sale events, Clearance, Total Platform commission and the sales from subsidiaries. Note, last year's financial year included a 53rd week, so product sales comparisons are given against the corresponding 'offset' weeks last year; i.e. for Q2 we are comparing weeks 14-26 of this year with weeks 15-27 of last year.
2. Guidance for NEXT Group profit before tax excludes: (1) the cost of brand amortisation and (2) the profit attributable to shares that we do not own in subsidiary companies. In the prior year an exceptional property profit of £16m and £24m of profit from a 53rd week were also excluded. No exceptional items are anticipated in the current year
Our full price sales performance versus last year, by business division, is set out below by quarter and for the first half.
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Full price sales by division versus last year |
Q1 13 wks to 2 May |
Q2 13 wks to 1 Aug |
H1 26 wks to 1 Aug |
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UK - Online NEXT Brand |
+5.8% |
- 1.2% |
+2.1% |
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UK - Online LABEL |
+15.7% |
+13.2% |
+14.4% |
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UK - ONLINE TOTAL |
+10.1% |
+5.0% |
+7.4% |
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Retail Stores |
- 3.4% |
- 0.3% |
- 1.7% |
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TOTAL UK |
+4.4% |
+2.8% |
+3.6% |
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TOTAL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL |
+12.8% |
+36.9% |
+23.9% |
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TOTAL PRODUCT FULL PRICE SALES |
+6.5% |
+9.7% |
+8.1% |
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NEXT Finance interest income |
+0.9% |
+0.9% |
+0.9% |
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TOTAL FULL PRICE SALES |
+6.2% |
+9.2% |
+7.7% |
We are maintaining our guidance for sales for the rest of the year to be up +5.0% versus last year, as set out below.
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Full price sales by division versus last year |
Q1 (Actual) |
Q2 (Actual) |
H1 (Actual) |
H2 (Guidance) |
Full year (Guidance) |
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UK (Retail Stores + Online) |
+4.4% |
+2.8% |
+3.6% |
+2.8% |
+3.2% |
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International |
+12.8% |
+36.9% |
+23.9% |
+14.0% |
+18.8% |
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NEXT Finance interest income |
+0.9% |
+0.9% |
+0.9% |
+1.9% |
+1.4% |
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TOTAL FULL PRICE SALES |
+6.2% |
+9.2% |
+7.7% |
+5.0% |
+6.3% |
In the UK, we expect sales in H2 to be up +2.8% on last year, in line with our performance in Q2.
Growth in International sales in H2 is expected to moderate to +14%. This is because in August last year we achieved a one-off step change in our aggregator sales when we switched to ZEOS distribution services, materially increasing stock availability in our European aggregator business. So our comparative numbers become tougher from August onwards.
Our revised guidance for the full year is summarised below, along with our previous guidance which is shown in grey.
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New guidance |
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Previous guidance |
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Guidance for the full year 2026/27 |
Full year (e) |
% Versus 2025/26 |
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Full year (e) |
% Versus 2025/26 |
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NEXT full price sales |
£6.0bn |
+6.3% |
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£5.9bn |
+5.0% |
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Total Group sales3 (inc. markdown & investments) |
£7.5bn |
+6.6% |
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£7.3bn |
+4.6% |
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NEXT Group profit before tax |
£1,243m |
+7.3% |
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£1,218m |
+5.2% |
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Post-tax Earnings Per Share |
812.9p |
+9.2% |
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792.9p |
+6.5% |
Our guidance for Earnings Per Share assumes that we complete £524m of share buybacks this year, which is £14m higher than our previous guidance. So far this year, we have purchased £355m of shares at an average share price of £127.69, reducing the number of shares in issue by 2.3%. This leaves £169m of remaining surplus cash available for return to shareholders.
Share buybacks are subject to us achieving a minimum 8% equivalent rate of return (ERR) on the purchase. ERR is calculated by dividing (1) anticipated NEXT Group pre-tax profits by (2) the current market capitalisation4. Based on our latest guidance, our share price limit for buybacks is £135.
In the event we cannot spend all of the remaining £169m on share buybacks, this would be returned to shareholders via a special dividend or capital return.
We are scheduled to announce our results for the first half of the year on Thursday 17 September 2026.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this Trading Update are forward looking statements. These statements may contain the words "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "aim", "expects", "will", or words of similar meaning. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks, uncertainties or assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. As such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward looking statements. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, NEXT plc disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update these statements to reflect events occurring after the date these statements were published.
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Date: |
Embargoed until 07:00 hrs, Wednesday 5 August 2026 |
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Contacts: |
Jonathan Blanchard, Chief Financial Officer (analyst calls) |
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NEXT PLC |
Tel: 0333 777 8888 |
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Alistair Mackinnon-Musson |
Email: [email protected] |
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Rowbell PR |
Tel: 020 7717 5239 |
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Photographs: |
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3. Total Group sales are the sum of total sales (full price and markdown) from all of the Group's divisions plus revenue from subsidiaries and investments. Revenue from subsidiaries and investments is based on our share ownership, e.g. we own 74% of Reiss so we report 74% of their sales. Group sales are not statutory revenue.
4. Market capitalisation is calculated based on shares in circulation, so excludes shares in the NEXT ESOT.