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Next has revealed that its profit-before-tax rose 13.8% to £515m for the half year ended July 2025 as its CEO warned that the UK is facing “anemic growth”.
It comes as the group’s revenues rose 10.3% to £3.25bn, helped by favourable weather and business gained during the M&S cyber attack earlier this year.
As a result, Next has reiterated its full-year profit guidance of just over £1bn stating it was cautious over its second half as its revenues slowed.
Despite this, the Next CEO Simon Wolfson has warned chancellor Rachel Reeves that the UK faces “anaemic” economic growth as well as an employment slump.Wolfson stated that he remained cautious over prospects as “the medium to long-term outlook for the UK economy does not look favourable”.
While he revealed he does not believe that the UK is headed towards a “recessionary cliff edge” he stated that the economic progress was being inhibited by “declining job opportunities, new regulation that erodes competitiveness, government spending commitments that are beyond its means, and a rising tax burden that undermines national productivity”.
In reference to the interim reports Wolfson said: “Our enthusiasm is tempered by the knowledge that the first half was boosted by factors that are unlikely to continue, and the belief that the UK economy is likely to weaken going forward.
“However, on balance we believe the positives for Next materially outweigh the negatives. We remain optimistic about the prospects for the Group and are very clear about what we have to do.”
