Sales momentum is expected to be revealed despite consumer pressure

next It is expected that further growth will be recorded over the last quarter as the high street chain continues to ease the pressure on consumer finances.

The company’s shares hit a new record high on Friday as investors continued buying into the group.

The company has been a consistent bright spot in the retail sector in recent years, and is trading strongly despite cost-of-living pressures and high operating costs.

The fashion retailer, which runs 899 stores, is set to report its trading for the last three months on Wednesday October 29.

It is expected that there will be a continuous growth in sales, although there may be a slowdown in comparison to the first half of the financial year.

In an update last month, Nextel bosses said full value sales were on track to rise 4.5% in the half year to January 2026 compared with a year earlier.

This came as the company said full value sales rose 10.9% in the July half, with total sales up 10.3%.

The anticipated slowdown in growth came as Chief Executive and conservative Peer Lord Simon Wolfson indicated that consumer sentiment was cooling due to economic uncertainty and rising unemployment.

“The medium to long-term outlook for the UK economy does not look favourable,” he said in September.

“To be clear, we do not believe the UK economy is reaching its peak. At most we expect weak growth.”

However, industry data nevertheless pointed to recent retail sales resilience.

Next stocks got a boost from the data National Statistical Office (ONS) showed that retail sales volumes rose by 0.5% in September.

This came despite analysts predicting a decline this month and marked the fourth consecutive month of growth.

So investors will hope this points to flexible consumer spending habits.

Michael Hewson at MCH Market Insights said: “Despite concerns over a continued decline in consumer income, we have seen another good quarter for Next shareholders with the share price this month hitting a new record high.

“When Next reported in late July there was some doubt that the retailer would be able to continue its recent trend of raising its guidance that has been the hallmark of its recent trading figures.”