Next cautiously raises outlook after a tough start to 2017

In terms of profits, Next is Britain’s most successful clothing retailer this century. But in recent years it's struggled to adapt to changing consumer habits

Despite being Britain's most sucessful retailer since 2000, Next has struggled to adapt to consumer trends (REUTERS)

Retailer Next has modestly upgraded its sales and profit guidance for 2017, saying that the market is looking less challenging than it did six months ago.

The company on Thursday posted a 9.5 per cent fall in first-half profit to £309.4m, particularly hurt by the performance of its stores, but it struck a cautiously optimistic outlook for the year ahead.

“The first half of the year has been difficult and sales and profits are in line with our cautious expectations,” it said.

“However, our performance in the last three months has been encouraging on a number of fronts and whilst the retail environment remains tough, our prospects going forward appear somewhat less challenging than they did six months ago,” it added.

“As a result, we are taking the opportunity to modestly upgrade our sales and profit guidance for the full year.”

The group said it now expects its full-year sales to come in between minus 2 per cent and plus 1.5 per cent. The previous predicted range was minus 3 per cent and plus 0.5 per cent.

In terms of profits, Next is Britain’s most successful clothing retailer this century, but it has in recent years struggled to adapt to changing consumer habits. It has particularly suffered a slowdown in its fashion and footwear business.