Next PLC

NEXT plc reported higher first-half sales and profit, led by international online growth and its owned brands, and said it would raise its interim dividend 12.6% to 98 pence per share. Total group sales rose 9% and full-price sales climbed 7.7%, beating the company's prior expectation of 4% growth, while profit increased 10.5% and margins improved by 0.3 percentage points. International full-price sales grew 24%, with Europe contributing nearly £100 million of the £133 million increase in overseas full-price sales, and sales of NEXT's wholly owned brands and licences rose 33.5% in the U.K. and 82% internationally. Chief Executive Simon Wolfson said the retailer had become more cautious on the U.K. consumer outlook for the second half, cutting its second-half U.K. sales expectations on anticipated pressure from fuel and other inflation, but NEXT maintained full-year guidance for 6.7% sales growth and profit before tax of about £1.255 billion, up 8.4%. First-half share buybacks totaled £355 million, and NEXT expects roughly £500 million to be available for shareholder distributions during the full year after capital expenditure and ordinary dividends, which Wolfson said could take the form of a special dividend, further buybacks or another capital return.

UK clothing retailer Next has won its appeal at the Employment Appeal Tribunal over basic pay in its long-running equal pay litigation, with the tribunal supporting the company's argument that offering warehouse operatives a higher market rate than shop assistants was justified due to recruitment and retention challenges. The retailer stated that direct sex discrimination was not established by either the original Employment Tribunal or the EAT, and that expert evidence linking pay disparities to sex was dismissed. Next was directed in August 2024 to pay millions of pounds to thousands of its sales consultants, but it has now prevailed on most contested terms, including bonus pay for warehouse employees, which was ruled in its favor last year. A handful of other terms, such as paid rest breaks, were not overturned, and Next plans to seek permission to appeal on those points, saying the judgment comes at the right time as the UK economy needs jobs.

British stocks closed higher on Tuesday, with the FTSE 100 index ending at 10,886.16 points, up 31.84 points or 0.29%, supported by the UK government's announcement of a 10 billion pound ($13.6 billion) plan to build affordable housing for renters, particularly in London. About 60% of the homes built with government funds will be social housing, which lifted homebuilder stocks by 2.5%. Vistry shares surged 16.3% after receiving an initial 350 million pounds ($477.19 million) to build more than 3,000 affordable homes. Meanwhile, mining stocks such as Glencore and Anglo American rose about 2% on higher copper prices, and Melrose Industries jumped 10.4% after setting a target to resume full production at its Garden Grove plant on September 28. Next shares gained 2.4% after Citigroup upgraded its recommendation to "buy." However, BP and Shell shares slipped slightly as oil prices fell more than 3%. Investors are watching Nvidia's earnings on Wednesday and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole meeting on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all-time high on Wednesday, August 5, buoyed by signs of progress in talks to end the war between Iran and the United States. The Nasdaq Composite fell for the first time in five trading days, dragged down by declines in SpaceX and AMD following their quarterly earnings. The Dow finished at 54,349.12, up 263.24 points or 0.49 percent. The S&P 500 closed at 7,723.55, down 12.97 points or 0.17 percent. The Nasdaq ended at 26,363.44, down 221.55 points or 0.83 percent. In European markets, the STOXX 600 index closed at a new record high of 657.14, up 0.28 points or 0.04 percent, supported by strong corporate earnings. London's stock market edged higher, lifted by Glencore and Next, but gains were capped by selling in banking shares after reports that China has begun taxing income from returns on overseas insurance policies. West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery fell 55 cents, or 0.73 percent, to settle at 75.22 dollars a barrel. Brent crude for October delivery rose 9 cents, or 0.11 percent, to 79.45 dollars a barrel, amid hopes that easing tensions between the US and Iran could lead to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. COMEX gold for December delivery surged 152.60 dollars, or 3.67 percent, to close at 4,305.20 dollars an ounce, supported by a decline in US Treasury yields. The US dollar weakened against major currencies, with the dollar index slipping 0.18 percent to 99.676 as investors reduced holdings of the safe-haven currency.

The London stock market closed slightly higher on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 ending at 10,888.30 points, up 8.92 points or 0.08%, supported by strong earnings from Glencore and Next. Glencore shares surged 4.1% after reporting first-half profit up 86%, beating expectations, along with plans for an additional listing on the Australian stock exchange. Next shares jumped 6.9%, the most in the index, after raising its full-year profit forecast for the third time. AstraZeneca shares rose 2.9% after denying reports of takeover talks with Bristol Myers Squibb. Banking stocks fell, with Prudential down 6.4% and HSBC down nearly 5% following reports that China has started taxing income from overseas insurance policy returns. Energy stocks dropped 1.5%, tracking volatile oil prices amid uncertainty in the Middle East.