UK fashion retailer Next kept its annual profit guidance despite reporting a smaller decline in first-quarter sales than it expected.
Full price sales slipped 0.7% in the 13 weeks to April 29, outperforming its guidance for a 2% fall.
The drop was primarily driven by online sales which dipped 1.6% while bricks-and-mortar sales were down 0.6%. Overall, sales were up 1.2% on last year driven by “higher clearance sales”.
