UK clothing giant Next have exceeded sales expectations, signalling a “strong statement” for the UK economy.

The British clothing retailer overdelivered in their most recent earnings call, reporting a 10.5% rise in full-price sales from the previous fiscal quarter.

The FTSE 100 index saw a climb of 5% in Wednesday morning trading, with Next shares reaching record highs of £3140.55 per share.

The retailer, long led by chief executive Lord Simon Wolfson, has bolstered its full-year pre-tax profit forecasts by £30 million to £1.13 billion, representing a 12% increase over the previous year.

These results are reported off the back of the recent September 2025 inflation data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS).

The data saw 0.1% drop in September core inflation to 3.5%, compared to 3.6% in the previous month, nonetheless, continuing to exceed the UK government’s target of 2%.

This has remained the case since the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 in October 2021.

Investors are remaining positive, however.

JP Morgan analyst Georgina Johanan has expressed her opinion, claiming the retailer’s results, across the board, to be a ‘strong statement’.

A shared sentiment, Richard Chamberlain and Manjari Dhar, analysts at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) report that Next is trading ‘stronger than expected’.

They continue, stating that Next has ‘offered investors a strong omnichannel and cash-returns historically’

In addition, strong domestic sales, the retailer has reported improved International Sales which rose by 38.8% in their third quarter compared with their overseas sales a year ago.

Next plans to return its expected £369 million of surplus cash as a ‘special’ dividend.