STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-Next boosted by increased profit guidance

Shares in Next top the FTSE 100 leader board, up 2.2percent, as the group kicks off the post-Christmas UK retail reporting seasonwith an increase to full-year pretax profit guidance as it reports a rise insales in the run-up to the festive season along with better margins. Britain's No.2 clothing retailer says it expects pretax profit for the yearto end-January 2013 to be 611-625 million pounds, against previous guidance of590-620 million pounds. For 2013-14, the firm guided to sales growth of 1.5-4.0 percent, with profitup in line with sales and promised a further 250 million pounds of share buybacks. "We believe the company was one of the winners over Christmas helped by astrong range geared to the colder weather," Seymour Pierce says in a note,keeping its "hold" recommendation and 3,500 pence price target on Next "for thetime being". "Next is a highly cash generative, tightly run and looks to continue toexecute on the basics of giving the consumer great product and capitalising onits leading multi-channel position. However, the sector has performed stronglyover the last year and sector rotation is likely to lead to a period ofconsolidation," the broker adds. Shares in Next rose 38 percent over the last year compared to a 6 percentadvance by the FTSE 100 index. Richard Hunter, Head of Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, says:"A combination of better margins, cost controls and markdowns have contributedto a slight profits upgrade, which has been well received. In particular, theDirectory business remains the jewel in the crown, whilst early indications forits post-Christmas sale are positive." "On a more cautious note, the company remains embroiled in a fiercelycompetitive sector where the consumer is acutely aware of making cost-consciousdecisions," Hunter adds, saying "this has led to a consensus which suggests thatthe shares are mostly up with events, the general view being that the shares area hold, albeit a strong one." Retail peers Marks & Spencer and Debenham push higher intandem with the news from Next, which relieves some of the pressure on the UKhigh street, up 0.5 percent and 1.9 percent respectively. Reuters messaging rm://jon.hopkins.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net