British clothing retailer Next expects annual profits to be slightly ahead of analysts' current forecast, with tight cost controls and strong online sales helping to offset tough trading at its shops.
Next, the first major British retailer to give an indication of its performance in the run-up to Christmas, said it expected annual profit before tax to be between £463m and £473m.
Sales at the online and home shopping Directory business rose 9.3% in the period from July 31 to December 24, compared with a 6.9% fall in underlying sales at Next's 308 shops.
