City briefs: Next; Belvoir Group
Retail giant Next has posted a revenue rise of almost 7% in its second quarter, the Enderby firm has posted this morning (August 3).
The strong performance means Next has increased its full year guidance for profit before tax by £10m to £845m.
Next says its end-of-season sale has gone well and clearance rates were ahead of expectations, while full price sales have been up +3.7% on last year.
Grantham-based estate agency Belvoir Group has posted a stronger than expected first half of the year.
Revenue for June 30 rose by 3% with revenue growth in both its property franchise and financial services adviser networks.
The firm says it is outperforming the market across all three of its revenue streams; lettings, sales and financial services.
Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir Group, said: “Our tried-and-tested franchise business model, the diversity of our income streams, the recurring nature of our lettings revenue and our successful acquisition strategy, both at franchisee and corporate level, have enabled the group to meet and overcome the challenges currently facing the property sector.
“The high degree of uncertainty created in the property and mortgage markets following the mini budget in September 2022 and subsequent interest rate rises, resulted in a drop-off in mortgage applications and house sales instructions towards the end of 2022 and made it very difficult to forecast the impact of increasing bank base rates on these markets in 2023. However, the outperformance of our business model continues to reflect the entrepreneurial nature of our franchisees and self-employed financial services advisers, who remain entirely focused on maximising the opportunities presented in all market conditions.”
