Thursday May 8, 04:18 PM
Sector movers: Warm weather prompts sales surge at Next
LONDON (ShareCast) - Sales at high street fashion chain Next fell 3.9% to £738.9m in the first quarter, with the group cautious about the outlook given the soaring cost of food, fuel, mortgages and taxes. Next Retail saw sales for
the 13 weeks to 26 April drop 5% on the year before to £518.1m, while like for like sales tumbled 8.9%. Next Directory held up better, with sales off 1% to £220.8m First half sales at Retail are seen down by around 3.5%, with like for like sales set to slide around 7%, the bottom end of the group's forecast range. Directory sales are seen up between 0% and 2%. The company reckons sales comparisons in the second quarter will improve significantly due to last year's poor weather. Warm weather over the last 11 days has seen a marked pick up in sales at Retail, said the group, improving the sales and like for like deficit for the period to 7 May to 3.8% and 7.8% respectively. Next said its internal forecasts for full year pre-tax profits are closely in line with the market for between £475m and £505m. Brewer SABMiller (LSE: SAB.L - news) has expanded its access to one of the fastest growing beer markets in the world through the purchase of one of the largest brewers in Ukraine. SABMiller is buying a 99.84% interest in CJSC Sarmat for an undisclosed sum from System Capital Management, a diversified holding company. The value of the assets to be acquired is in the region of $130m. Sarmat operates a brewery in Donetsk in east Ukraine and owns the brands Sarmat, Dnipro and Drive Max. The Ukraine's medium term forecast for growth in beer consumption is higher than for any other major Central and Eastern European (CEE) market, SABMiller said. The beer market had a growth rate of 14% per annum in the four years to end-2006.
Top performing sectors so far today
General Retailers 1,684.80 +2.66%
Industrial Engineering 3,688.70 +2.18%
Mining 28,446.00 +1.84%
Software & Computer Services (CSVI.PK - news) 473.30 +1.61%
Personal Goods 8,393.10 +1.54% Bottom performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 4,876.10 -2.75%
Beverages 6,684.10 -1.81%
Mobile Telecommunications 3,669.30 -1.41%
Banks 8,235.20 -1.40%
Electricity 7,798.50 -0.95%
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