Next has seen its sales increase by 10.5% year-on-year in the 13 weeks to 25 October, beating its expectation range of between 7.5% and 8.5%.

The fashion and homeware retailer revealed in its latest trading update that sales overperformed both in the UK and overseas.

While UK sales growth in this period (5.4%) was lower than in the first half of the year (7.6%), it beat its previous guidance of 1.9%. Next stated that its first-half performance benefitted from favourable weather conditions and competitor disruption.

In its overseas division, sales increased by 38.8%, ahead of guidance set at 19.4%.

As a result, Next has upgraded its sales guidance for the full year to 9.7%, estimating a total of £5.55bn, up from a previous increase estimate of 7.5%.

In the UK, the retailer expects its sales growth the continue to moderate, slowing from 5.4% in Q3 to 4.1% in Q4.

Furthermore, it has increased its profit before tax expectations from growth of 9.3% to 12.2% at £1.13bn.

Following the announcement, shares in Next increased by almost 8%.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, said that it is "hard to think of a company which has mastered the art of being on the stock market better than Next".

He stated: "Today’s third-quarter update is no exception as sales come in comfortably ahead of expectations once again and, given Next’s habit of under promising and over delivering, it is striking to see another upgrade to full-year profit guidance.

"The company is seeing really impressive growth in sales of third-party brands on its platform and is making meaningful progress with its nascent international business.

"The core brand is also demonstrating resilience in what remains a tricky consumer backdrop, with competitors struggling to match Next’s mastery of the basics of retail."

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