UK retail: Next's shares at a record high, JD Sports and Topps Tiles sink
A trading update for the most recent period, taking into account the end of the year, has seen clothing giant Next's shares burst through to a record high.
(AI Video Summary)
Next share price shoots to an all-time record high
UK retailers have recently shared their trading updates for the last quarter. The results are a bit of a mixed bag. First up is Next, a clothing retailer, which reported impressive full-price sales in the nine weeks leading up to December. Their sales increased by 5.7%, surpassing expectations. This great news has prompted Next to revise their predicted full-price sales to 2.5% and their pre-tax profit to £905 million. That's £20 million higher than what was previously anticipated. Because of this, Next's stock has reached an all-time high, and the company's value has doubled since October 2022. It's safe to say Next is doing incredibly well.
Bad news for JD Sports and Topps Tiles stocks
On the other hand, JD Sports hasn't had such good news to share. In their trading statement for the 22 weeks up to December, JD Sports reported a 6% increase in constant currency organic gross revenue and a 1.8% increase in like-for-like gross revenue. Unfortunately, their profit forecast has had to be adjusted due to higher trading costs. The new profits are expected to fall between £915 million and £935 million, which is lower than previously estimated. As a result, JD Sports' stock has taken a hit, declining by 15.9% in early trading. It's now approaching the lowest it's been since October 2021.
Lastly, we have Topps Tiles. In their trading update for the first quarter of the fiscal year, Topps Tiles highlighted the challenges faced by consumer spending that isn't essential. Their like-for-like sales have declined by 7.1% during this period. However, online sales have shown some positive performance. Topps Tiles expects their full-year profit to be higher in the second half of the year. Despite this, their stock has experienced a significant drop of almost 4.75%.
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