| | Retail Bulletin reports that in the 52 weeks to January 2018, total revenue edged down 0.5% to £4.1bn while pre-tax profit fell by 8.1% to £726.1m.
Full price sales in Next’s stores were down 7% although its online business saw full price sales growth of 11.2%
Next chief executive Lord Wolfson said a difficult clothing market had coincided with self-inflicted product ranging errors and omissions.
Next said the year’s results has prompted it to undertake of review of almost everything it does including the structure of its store portfolio, the in-store experience and the generation of alternative retail revenue streams, as well as its cost base, sourcing and buying methods, stock management and online systems.
The company’s net trading space increased by 51,000 sq ft in the year, taking its portfolio to eight million square feet. Next also closed 17 stores although three were as a result of consolidating two stores into one location.
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