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Next chief executive Lord Simon Wolfson has warned of stock delays as a result of the attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea.
Wolfson told The Guardian that while the current situation is a “minor inconvenience” it could become a major problem this year if it continues.
Attacks from Houthi rebels have forced cargo ships to divert round Africa instead of heading through the Suez Canal, adding weeks to journeys.
He said: “The extra sailing time eats into capacity in the network and we could begin to get constraints. At the moment it is an inconvenience not a crisis.”
This comes after Next revealed that it had raised its profit guidance to £905m for the full year, up £20m, following better than expected December sales.
The company stated that it had performed particularly well online after improving its offering, with sales rising by 9.1% in the three months to 31 December.
Alongside this, sales in stores rose by 0.6% after a fall in the previous quarter.
As a result of the positive Q4 trading Next’s share price jumped 5% on Thursday (4 January) to £85.32, and at the time of writing sits at £83.70.
