Results

Next Lifts Profit Guidance to £1.255bn; Middle East Online +14% Despite the Conflict

First-half profit before tax rose 10.5 percent to £569m on full-price sales up 7.7 percent; international online grew 23.9 percent, the Middle East 14 percent, with "parcel surcharges arising from the Middle East conflict" costing 1.3 points of margin. Full-year guidance rose £12m; the U.K. second half was trimmed to +2.0 percent. Read-through: a franchise anchor whose Gulf online demand held through the spring, and whose document names the region's logistics cost plainly.

Sources: Next plc, Results for the Half Year 2026/27, 17 Sep · Retail Gazette, 17 Sep · Next plc, Results for the Half Year 2026/27, 17 Sep · Retail Gazette, 17 Sep