Retail Week looks ahead to the next seven days, with third quarter updates from Morrisons and Next on the agenda.
Next
The retailer will report its third quarter results on Wednesday, November 1. Next has come unstuck in recent updates, with sales and profits both shrinking.
At its interim results, pre-tax profits fell 9.5% and total sales, including markdown, dropped 2.3%. There was a marked divergence between retail and directory sales and the former dropped 8.3% and the latter jumped 5.7%.
However, Next “modestly upgraded” its sales and profit guidance for the full year and chief executive Lord Wolfson said that he believed its future prospects were “less challenging” than they had been six months previously.
Morrisons
The grocer is set to clock up another quarter of rising sales on Thursday as its recovery gains momentum. Morrisons posted a 3% rise in like-for-likes as pre-tax profits rocketed 39.9% at its interims in September.
The grocer is partnering with McColl’s to supply the convenience chain with national brands and Safeway products, replacing its existing deals with Palmer and Harvey and Co-op acquisition target Nisa.
The grocer has now notched up seven quarters of consecutive growth amid a turbulent grocery market with fellow big four member Tesco also mounting a strong recovery, while Asda posted its first quarterly growth in three years at its last update.
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