Fashion and home furnishings retailer NEXT has reported a growth in top line sales and profit.

According to its half year results for the six months to July 2023, total sales were up 5.4% to £2.6bn from £2.5bn in 2022. Pre-tax profit increased 4.8% to £420m from £401m.

Online sales rose 5% to £1.49bn from £1.42bn, while retail store sales increased 0.5% to £885m from £880.5m. Profits for online rose 11.1% to £245.5m, while stores saw an improvement of 0.6% to £101.2m.

Under its licencing Home division, sales rose 41.9% to £4.3m from £3m during the period.

During the first half of the year, NEXT generated £14m from concession income and for the full year it estimates this will be c.£32m. Furthermore, a MADE furniture concession in Sheffield is planned to open by December 2023.

“We continue to develop product ranges outside the NEXT brand. The numbers are small at present but growing respectably at +18%. In the current year we expect to launch at least 10 new licences across Childrenswear, Home, and Womenswear,” the group said.

“We expect to close 11 mainline stores this year. Six closures are in locations where we forecast that the store would not achieve our target margin on almost any terms; two closures are due to the site being redeveloped; three further closures are as a result of being unable to agree acceptable new terms with landlords.”

Looking ahead, NEXT has revised its guidance for the full year to January 2024 with sales growth to increase from +1.8% to +2.6%, while profit before tax guidance to increase from £845m to £875m, up +0.5% on last year.