25 March 2011 | Angeline Albert
Clothing chain Next has
overcome supply shortages and rising cotton prices to achieve profits
of £551.4 million.
According to
financial results, published yesterday for the year ending 31 January 2011, the
retailer achieved a 9 per cent rise in profits before tax, when compared to
£505.3 million the previous year, and had to overcome buying challenges to do
so.
In its report, Next admitted that in the second half of the year, it had “experienced
increasing difficulty getting stock into the
business on time from suppliers”.
The retailer
said the shortages were the result of production constraints in manufacturing
sites in China. With
inventories at low levels post-recession, suppliers were playing catch-up to
meet increasing UK demand for clothes. Some of Next’s suppliers
had also left the industry during the 2008/9 downturn resulting in its buyers
having to source new suppliers to meet demand.
In its report
the group said: “We have taken steps to secure capacity through the addition of
new suppliers and booking fabric and production earlier. Currently stock intake
has been in line with our requirements and we expect stock levels to be at
least 10 per cent ahead of last year throughout the season.”
Buyers also had to work to get
good prices from manufacturing suppliers despite rising cotton prices. Last
November, Next CEO Simon Wolfson, said the cost of cotton had leapt by 90 per
cent when compared to the previous year.
Wage increases in countries where Next sources products,
together with a rise in oil prices, also contributed to buying challenges.
Yesterday Wolfson said that if the group hadn’t taken steps to mitigate
the risks of rising cotton prices and supply constraints, consumers would have
seen prices rise by at least 18 per cent instead of the 8 per cent which had
been expected. From next September he expects prices to rise by between 8 and 10
per cent.