Clothing retailer Next said sales in August and early September had been disappointing during what had been an unusually quiet period.
"We remain cautious about the economic outlook whilst maintaining full year guidance that our sales, profits and earnings per share will all move forward on last year," the firm said.
It said today it made a pretax profit of £251m sterling in the six months to July, up 10.2% on the same time last year.
That compares with analyst forecasts of £234-254m and reflected a 4.8% rise in revenue to £1.64 billion.
Earnings per share rose 18.7% to 118.5 pence, boosted by share buybacks of £112m and lower tax rates, while the interim dividend was raised 12.7% to 31 pence.
Last month Next raised its guidance for 2012-13 pretax profit to £575-620m, equating to growth of 0.8-8.7% on 2011-12. It forecast total sales growth in 2012-13 of 2-4.5% and said it expected EPS to grow 6% more than the growth in pretax profit.
Many British retailers are finding the going tough as consumers hold back spending in the face of inflation, meagre wage increases, employment fears and austerity measures. Last week an industry survey said underlying UK sales fell in August as the London Olympics failed to provide the hoped for boost to demand.
Next, the official clothing and homeware supplier to the Games, has generally defied the gloom, helped by its strong online offer, a constant stream of new store openings and diversification into homewares and overseas.
Next trades from over 500 stores in the UK and Ireland, nearly 200 stores in over 30 countries overseas, and the Next Directory online and catalogue business.
