NEXT sales update lifts shares

The price of shares in FTSE 100 fashion retailer NEXT (LON:NXT) climbed by 6.22% to 7,342p (as of 11:35 GMT) after the firm reported that full price sales for the nine weeks ended 26th December beat expectations. The group said that sales were down by 1.1% for the period but this was significantly better than the forecast 8% decline.

Management said that they expect pre-tax profits for the 2021/22 financial year to be in the range of £670 million based on stores being closed in February and March and sales being flat relative to two years ago.