Shareholders in retail bellwether Next (NXT) were breaking out the champagne after the stock price hit a new lifetime high on the release of forecast-beating results for the year to January (21 March).

Full-price sales rose a better-than-expected 4%, with growth driven by strong online trading, suggesting the retailer’s offering continues to resonate with shoppers.

Chief executive Simon Wolfson opened his comments by saying it was ‘a long time since we started a year in a more positive frame of mind’, as the firm ended 2023 with its highest-ever levels of revenue and profit and entered 2024 ‘with new avenues of growth along with a cost base that feels under control’.

Earnings this year are seen rising just under 5% to around £960 million while the firm intends to return £540 million in dividends and buybacks.

Progress is expected outside the UK with more US retailers hopefully signing up for trials and franchising and licensing agreements agreed with leading players in India and Asia.

Shore Capital described the firm as ‘a high-class act with a deserved equity capital market following because there is a more than reasonable chance that it will beat its guidance’.

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