British clothing retailer Next has said it expects its full-year profits to be slightly ahead of market expectations.
But it warned that the outlook for next year remained extremely cautious, due to increasing demands on consumers' finances, including higher mortgage repayments.
Next said it expected full-year pre-tax profit to be in the region of £492m to £502m, just ahead of market expectations.
Next, which trades from more than 480 stores, said underlying sales fell 3.1% in the period July 30 to December 24 - this compared with a decline of 2.9% in the first 14 weeks of the second half.
