UK\'s Next confounds fears of bleak Christmas with sales rise

UK clothing store Next not so much setting the trend as bucking it.

Unlike other high street stores- it's reporting a rise in sales in the three week run up to Christmas.

Instead of following suit and slashing prices like many retailers on Black Friday and before Christmas.

Next has a longstanding policy of not going on sale before December 26.

The company reported on Wednesday that total full price sales including interest income rose 1.5 percent in the bulk of its fourth quarter.

But that was largely down to online sales- up 15.2 percent while sales at it stores fell 9.2 percent.

The results follow a major profit warning from the internet giant Asos last month.

Which hammered consumer confidence and forced many high street retailers to cut prices.

Investor confidence in Next jumped on Wednesday's news.

Shares rose as much as 7 percent- setting a high bar for other fashion rivals.

It marks a major shift from the last three months- when shares in Next had fallen by 24 percent.

The firm is now forecasting full-price sales growth of 3.2 percent and pretax profit of 723 million pounds for the full 2018-19 year.