Next has revealed that its Q1 sales were “better than expected” after suggesting the warmer weather in the UK helped boost its sale of summer clothing.

The retailer reported sales growth of 11.4% against last year in Q1, which was £55m ahead of its anticipated 6.5% forecast for the period, covering the 13 weeks to 26 April.

Next said its over-performance in the quarter was the result of warmer weather which had “benefited the sale of summer-weight clothing”. However, the retailer did note that some of its sales may have been pulled forward from Q2 and said it would not increase its sales guidance for Q2, or the rest of the year.

The retailer has however increased the guidance for its full-year profit before tax by £14m to account for the additional sales in Q1, taking its expected pre-tax profit for FY25 to £1.1bn.

In a company statement, Next said: “Our performance in both the UK and overseas was better than we had anticipated. Sales in our retail shops have been much stronger than we expected but, in our experience, shops benefit disproportionately from the favourable weather. So we are expecting our retail sales to return to being broadly flat for the rest of the year.”

Next also stated that it was remaining cautious about sales in its second half due to the comparative numbers in the same period last year being “much stronger”.

The retailer also highlighted caution ahead of the full effects of the April national insurance increases, which it said would begin to filter through to the wider economy in H2.

Consumer discretionary analyst at Quilter Cheviot, Mamta Valechha, commented: “For investors, Next is proving to be a high quality and defensive company, which given the backdrop of a cautious UK consumer will be beneficial going forward.

“It has been performing strongly of late, however, we think the changing profile of the business, giving Next diversified growth avenues, negligible tariff exposure and consistent performance can provide support to this valuation.”

Next confirmed that it would publish its results for H1, covering the 26-week period to 26 July, on 31 July.

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