# Retail, NEXT, Continues To Struggle

Published 2018-03-23 · Updated 2026-03-19 · Retail on MarketScale
Canonical: https://www.marketscale.com/industries/retail/retail-next-continues-struggle

> Next has become the latest retail outlet to record a negative performance admitting that “2017 was the most challenging year we have faced for 25 years.” The company reported an 8.1% fall in annual pre-tax profits to £726.1 million, while total sales dropped 0.5% to £4.1 billion. Revenue at its shops slumped while online revenues…

Next has become the latest retail outlet to record a negative performance admitting that “2017 was the most challenging year we have faced for 25 years.”

The company reported an 8.1% fall in annual pre-tax profits to £726.1 million, while total sales dropped 0.5% to £4.1 billion.

Revenue at its shops slumped while online revenues grew by nearly 10% which helped soften the blow.

- New Look cut 60 stores putting nearly 1000 jobs at risk
- Jobs at risk as as Carpetright plans store closures

Chief executive Lord Simon Wolfson said its poor performance was due to “a difficult clothing market coincided with self-inflicted product ranging errors and omissions.

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