Retail Week rounds up how analysts have reacted to Next’s strong growth in the first half of the year, with the fashion retailer reporting total sales up 4.5% for the six months to July 28.

“We remain very happy buyers of Next – this statement is further evidence that Next is outperforming peers and gaining market share. We expect the shares to go higher today. Next is likely to have benefitted from the wet weather, driving customers off the high street and onto online, and we also expect standalone Home stores to have traded strongly.

“What is also encouraging is that the beat comes from both Retail and Directory, not just the latter, which should go some way to silence bears’ fears regarding the store estate.” Investec analyst Bethany Hocking

“The only disappointment is that there is no colour or detail in the statement, with no Simon Wolfson comments about the impact of the Olympics on retailing or the outlook for the UK economy, but no doubt he is saving himself for his usual tour de force with the interims on Sept 13th.” Nick Bubb, independent analyst

“Despite the difficult trading conditions total Next brand sales have come in at the top of the guided range given in March and May. The directory business continues to show good growth and is likely to have benefited from the poor weather. That said the Retail business has also seen a very encouraging pick up in Q2.” Singer analyst Mark Photiades

“Next has reported a solid set of first half results as the retailer remained resilient against a tough economic climate and this summer’s unseasonable weather conditions, which diminished footfall to its stores over the past three months.

“Next’s well established multichannel proposition has put it on solid ground to capitalise on more people browsing its offer online than in its stores during the washout start of the summer. The strong growth of its Directory division underlines the importance of Next’s online and catalogue offer.

“While Next’s first half performance puts it on stronger footing than some of it other high street rivals, the challenge of ensuring longer term profitability across all stores is an issue that still needs to be addressed. While new space has contributed to positive retail sales overall for the first half of this year, the fact remains that sales from existing stores remain in negative territory.

“The weakness of some of its existing estate raises the question about the long term viability of some stores. With a growing amount of spend moving to its Directory business and continued softening of sales at like-for-like stores, Next will have to assess the current shape of its store estate to ensure it continues to generate sales and profitability for the group going forward.” Simon Chinn, lead Consultant at Conlumino

“In an extremely challenging retail environment, Next has done the right thing by focusing myopically on its core strengths and core customers…Rather than chase the value end of retail, as so many retailers have done in recent years, Next has remained stubbornly in the middle ground and it has paid dividends.

“It is almost unrivalled at understanding, and listening to, its customers and this is reflected in its product range, specifically its menswear and childrenswear.

“The success of the online and Directory channels reflects the trust people have in the Next brand — they know that the things they order will be of the quality they expect.” Retail Remedy director of retail consultants James McGregor