Analysts predict Next will deliver resilient sales picture

MID-MARKET fashion chain Next is expected to prove one of the most resilient high street players when it updates the market next week on festive trading.

City analysts are upbeat about the group's prospects since Next's third-quarter update in November showed an improving sales picture.

At that time chief executive Simon Wolfson said he expected sales at the company's stores in the second half of the financial year to come in somewhere between flat and a 3 per cent decline.

Previously the company had warned sales in the second half could fall by up to 6 per cent, but Next reported a better-than-expected 1.3 per cent decline in same-floorspace sales in the 14 weeks to end-October.

Analysts say the group is also expected to have been one of the main beneficiaries of record-breaking numbers of shoppers hitting the high street for the post-Christmas sales on Boxing Day and last Sunday.

Footfall figures on those days rose by double-digits against the comparative trading days in December 2008, including a record near-18 per cent last Sunday, according to data firm Experian.