Next boss tramples on ‘green shoots’ hopes

Shares in Next slammed into reverse today after the fashion chain played down hopes of a recovery on the High Street.

The stock gave up early gains to drift 37p lower to 1607p despite a second profits upgrade in three months.

Chief executive Simon Wolfson said he expects profits in the first half to be £15 million higher than previously thought.

Wolfson also added £15 million to second-half forecasts after the warm weather improved demand for summer clothing.

Analysts upgraded targets for the full year from around £375 million to between £400 million and £405 million. Next made £428 million last year.

But the shares fell more than 2%% after Wolfson again dismissed talk of green shoots and warned that same-store sales in the second half will still drop by between 3.5% and 6.5%. Sales in its 394 stores were down 1.9% in the 25 weeks to 18 July.

Wolfson said: "We expect consumers to continue to moderate their spending in the second half.

"Whilst we do not anticipate any collapse in consumer sentiment, we believe that many will continue to save rather than spend the benefits of lower mortgage costs.

"In addition, we anticipate that unemployment will continue to rise, though not necessarily at any faster rate than the last six months.

"As a result, we expect the consumer environment in the second half to be similar to that of the first half."