* Third quarter full price sales beat guidance
* Q4 sales and full year profit guidance maintained
* Next expects sales growth to slow
* Shares down 3.1% at 0837 GMT
(Adds detail, shares, comment)
By James Davey
LONDON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - British clothing retailer Next
beat guidance with a 17% rise in third-quarter
full-price sales compared to 2019, before the pandemic disrupted
trading, but maintained its full-year profit guidance as it
expects sales growth to slow.
The lack of profit upgrade after four already this year sent
Next's shares down 3.1% by 0837 GMT on Wednesday, paring
year-on-year gains to 41%. The stock hit a record high in
September.
Next, which trades from about 500 stores and online, said
the impact of pandemic pent-up demand was likely to continue to
diminish.
It said stock availability had improved since September but
remained "challenging", with delays in its international supply
chain being compounded by labour shortages in the UK transport
and warehousing networks.
Next said that to date stock limitations had been offset by
strong underlying demand.
"Although consumer finances are in good shape, price
increases in essential goods (such as fuel) may moderate demand
for more discretionary purchases," it added.
Next had reported in September that full-price sales in the
first eight weeks of its fiscal third quarter had risen 20%.
It said on Wednesday they had risen 14% in the final five
weeks of the period to Oct. 30. This was ahead of its forecast
of 10% growth.
Third-quarter online sales rose 40%, while store sales in
the United Kingdom and Ireland were down 6.1%.
However, Next kept its forecast for full-price sales in the
fourth quarter to rise 10% versus 2019-20 and for a full-year
pretax profit of 800 million pounds ($1.1 billion), up 6.9%
compared to 2019-20.
"We do not expect sales to continue at the level seen in
Q3," it said.
Next has proved a resilient performer during the pandemic,
benefiting from its long-established online operations.
Rivals with weaker or no online business, notably Primark
, saw large falls in sales. Others, such as Topshop-owner
Arcadia, and Debenhams went bust.
"Next ... increasingly looks like one of the high street’s
winners, adapting better than most to changes in consumers’
shopping habits," said Zoe Gillespie, investment manager at
Brewin Dolphin.
Separately on Wednesday German online fashion retailer
Zalando reported a slump in quarterly profit as it
offered discounts to try to keep customers shopping online.
(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
and Mark Potter)