Next has delivered another successful quarter, with sales up and driven by a surge in international online demand and warm summer weather across the UK, full-price sales for the 13 weeks to 1 Aug 2026 jumped 9.2% year-on-year—more than double management’s original 4.0% forecast.
The high-street giant now projects full-year pre-tax profits to reach £1,243m (+7.3% year-on-year), alongside total group sales of £7.5bn. The £70m sales uplift in Q2 – comprising £51m from international markets and £19m in the UK – highlights Next’s structural pivot toward global e-commerce and multi-brand aggregation.
The underlying figures reveal a clear operational shift across Next’s core divisions. The standout performer was Total Online International, where full-price sales surged by +36.9% in Q2 (up from +12.8% in Q1). Management attributed this leap to a sharp release of pent-up demand in Northern Europe and the Middle East, combined with highly profitable digital marketing expansion.
Domestically, third-party brands continue to carry growth. While Next’s core UK online brand contracted by -1.2% in Q2 and physical retail stores slipped -0.3%, Next’s third-party brand marketplace (LABEL) grew +13.2%.
| Division Performance (Full Price Sales) | Q1 Growth | Q2 Growth | H1 Overall |
| Total International Online | +12.8% | +36.9% | +23.9% |
| UK Online LABEL (Third-Party) | +15.7% | +13.2% | +14.4% |
| UK Online NEXT Brand | +5.8% | -1.2% | +2.1% |
| UK Retail Stores | -3.4% | -0.3% | -1.7% |
| Total Full Price Sales | +6.2% | +9.2% | +7.7% |
The £25m profit upgrade is split between £15m in direct retail operational gains and £10m from outperforming equity investments.
Next’s balance sheet discipline remains central to its strategy:
- Share Buybacks: The group has upgraded its planned share buybacks to £524m for the year. It has already deployed £355m at an average share price of £127.69, reducing the total share count by 2.3%.
- Return Thresholds: Capital returns adhere strictly to Next’s 8% Equivalent Rate of Return (ERR) model, establishing a share price cap of £135 for future repurchases.
- Surplus Cash: If share prices exceed £135, Next will return the remaining £169 million in surplus cash to shareholders via special dividends or capital returns.
Despite beating expectations, Next is maintaining its prudent posture for H2, leaving full-price sales guidance unchanged at +5.0%. Overseas growth is projected to moderate to +14.0% in H2. This deceleration is deliberate: August marks the anniversary of Next’s integration with ZEOS distribution services, which triggered a step-change in stock availability across European aggregators last year and creates much tougher comparative metrics for H2.
