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Next raises profit forecast for a fourth time but Lord Wolfson warns Budget tax hikes risk 'stifling growth'

From the Newshound archive · first published 19 September 2026.

Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, whose company has cut its UK sales growth outlook for the second half of the year even as it raised its full-year profit forecast to £1.26bn.
Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, whose company has cut its UK sales growth outlook for the second half of the year even as it raised its full-year profit forecast to £1.26bn.
Next raised its full-year pre-tax profit forecast for a fourth time this year, to £1.26bn, after a 24% surge in international sales helped group sales jump 9%.
Next raised its full-year pre-tax profit forecast for a fourth time this year, to £1.26bn, after a 24% surge in international sales helped group sales jump 9%.

Lord Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, has warned the government that tax rises in the 28 October Budget could worsen already weak consumer confidence and tip the economy into a vicious circle of lower growth and worsening public finances. Next raised its full-year pre-tax profit forecast by £12m to £1.26bn after group sales jumped 9% in the six months to July, driven by two unusually warm summers and a 24% surge in international sales. It is the fourth profit upgrade this year, yet the retailer is already cutting its UK sales growth outlook for the second half from 2.8% to 2%.

Wolfson said the tax burden is at its 'highest level for over 60 years' and further rises only risk 'stifling growth'.

Next cautioned that rising inflation, higher mortgage costs and a weak jobs market cloud the second half outlook.

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