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* Full-price sales in last 11 weeks rise 18.6%
* Upgrades FY profit forecast by 30 mln stg to 750 mln stg
* Will repay 29 mln stg of business rates relief
* Shares jump 10%
(Adds shares, background)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - British fashion retailer Next
lifted its profit forecast on Wednesday after pent-up
demand for adult clothes and warm weather helped it smash sales
forecasts for the last 11 weeks.
The mainstay of Britain's shopping streets said full-price
sales jumped 19% over the 11 weeks compared with the same period
two years ago, before the disruptions of the pandemic, far above
its forecast for 3%.
The company said pretax profit for the year to January 2022
would be about 750 million pounds ($1 billion) under its central
guidance, an increase of 30 million pounds.
Shares in Next rose 10% in early trade, taking gains in the
last 12 months to 60%.
It put the sales surge down to a combination of pent-up
demand for adult clothes after 18 months of pandemic
restrictions, warmer weather at the end of May and start of
June, and an increase in spending as shoppers take fewer
holidays abroad and dip into savings built up in lockdowns.
British retailers reported a record annual increase in sales
in the three months to the end of June, the British Retail
Consortium said earlier this month, with a 28.4% rise on a year
earlier and 10.4% on two years ago.
Next, which runs the online Directory business alongside its
stores, said it did not expect sales to remain at an
exceptionally strong level, but it was optimistic about the
second half, when it sees sales up 6% on levels two years ago.
The increase in profit guidance would have been higher had
it not decided to repay 29 million pounds of business rates
relief, accounting for the time its shops were open. It said it
had taken the decision after consulting major shareholders.
Next forecast surplus cash for the year to be 240 million
pounds, which it plans to give to shareholders via special
dividends. It will pay the first - valued at 110 pence a share -
in September.
($1 = 0.7351 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Sarah Young and Mark
Potter)
