British clothing store chain Next said today like-for-like sales at 273 shops not affected by new space fell 3.2 per cent in the first 15 weeks of its fiscal year, accelerating a decline reported in March.
Like-for-like sales at 337 shops including those affected by new selling space fell 6.3 per cent over the same period, the firm said in an update ahead of its annual shareholder meeting.
Next, which warned in March that waning consumer spending was hitting sales, had reported a 0.9 per cent drop in like-for-like sales at 279 shops unaffected by new space after seven weeks of its financial year, and a 3.5 per cent fall at 333 stores inclusive of new selling space.
"Retail has deteriorated quite badly," said Iain McDonald, an industry analyst at Numis Securities, who had been looking for a 3.5 percent fall in underlying sales including new space.
"The market's bad, but I don't think the market's that bad, which suggests to me that something gone wrong with their offer," he added, cutting his full-year underlying profit forecast to £420 million from 433 million.