Next prepares itself for sales slump of £1bn

Enderby retail giant Next has posted profits slightly ahead of expectations for the year-ending January 31.

The figures, which do not take into account the impact of the coronavirus crisis, saw profits rise by almost 1% to £728.5 after a strong January. Sales rose by almost 3.3% £4.3bn – driven by a rise of almost 12% through its online channels.

However, the firm has sounded a warning about the coming months. It has worked out three scenarios in which sales could be down by as much as £1bn next year.

A statement said: “We have no experience of a similar crisis so there is no way of predicting the extent that the effect coronavirus will have on our Retail and Online sales. It is not yet clear how widespread the virus will be at any one time, how long the pandemic will last and what the medium to long term effect of this pandemic will be on consumer behaviour.

“Online sales are likely to fare better than Retail but will also suffer significant losses. People do not buy a new outfit to stay at home.”