Profits at Irish arm of high street giant Next rise 7% to €3.4m

The Irish arm of British high street retail giant Next increased its pretax profits by more than 7 per cent to €3.44 million in total in 2025, newly filed financial accounts show, up from €3.21 million the previous year.

The clothing, cosmetics and homeware retailer generated €88.16 million in revenue throughout the financial year up to January 25th this year, an improvement of 5.62 per cent compared to its 2024 financial accounts’ figure of €83.47 million.

Administrative expenses cost the company €10.24 million last year, while distribution costs amounted to €3.78 million, the filings show.

The company employed on average 879 people last year and paid €14.05 million in wages, according to the filings. This implies an annual wage of €15,979 per employee, equivalent to working 22.75 hours per week on the minimum wage.

In a report attached to the accounts, the directors of the company said: “Pressure has increased on global supply chains; the Middle East conflict has increased shipping transit times, and there has been some disruption to product availability due to ongoing civil unrest and labour disputes in Bangladesh.”

The challenges faced by the company “are complex”, the directors said, “particularly given the impact of the macroeconomic conditions” and specifically “current levels of inflation”.

The directors were not paid by the company during the period covered by the financial accounts. They believed it was “not practicable to apportion their remuneration between qualifying services for this company and other group companies in which they hold office”, a note to the financial statements read.

On Thursday, the UK-based parent company reported to its investors a better-than-expected rise of 8.1 per cent in full-price sales in Britain for the third quarter of this year compared to the same time last year.

This was £33 million (€39.6 million) ahead of its previous guidance, following a 7.7 per cent increase in growth for the first half of the year, the company said.

Much of this stemmed from internet transactions, the company said, with online international sales up 32.2 per cent. This has, in part, offset slowing sales across the UK domestic market, down three percentage points to a 4.4 per cent increase for the first half of the year.

The company kept its forecast profit before tax of £1.255 billion, up from the £1.158 billion prediction it made last year.

The retail giant was founded in 1864. Its first stage of significant expansion occurred in 1981 with its purchase of womenswear retailer Kendall’s & Sons, and then in 2008, when it bought youth-centred brand Lipsy.

The company now has about 700 outlets in Britain and 200 elsewhere across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The Irish branch maintains 20 stores across the State, with six in Dublin alone. – Additional reporting: PA