Next’s chief executive has sold £29m worth of shares in the FTSE 100 fashion and homeware store.
Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise sold around 290,000 shares, leaving him with 950,000 shares worth £100m, Next told markets on Friday.
News of the sale sent Next’s share price down 3.5 per cent, although it’s risen by 21.24 per cent in the year to date and 33 per cent in the last full year.
The decision to offload shares is reportedly a form of “top slicing” by the retail boss, according to The Sunday Times. Wolfson last sold shares in January this year and before that in November 2020.
Top slicing is undertaken to mitigate a higher rate of income tax. Rachel Reeves is widely expected to increase taxes in the Government’s inaugural budget, which the Prime Minister has warned will be “painful” and focused on those with “the broadest shoulders”.
The steady leadership of Wolfson, who has been chief executive since 2001, has helped to grow Next into an international retailer with 458 shops throughout the UK.
In its latest results, the retail giant raised its guidance for the ninth consecutive time in a market update, and told markets it was vying for nearly £1bn in profit.
It said revenue rose from £2.5bn in the first half of 2023 to £2.86bn in 2024, an increase of 13.6 per cent. Total sales rose by eight per cent year on year, from £2,7bn to £2.9bn, while profit before tax grew by 7.1 per cent, from £422m to £452m.
Next said that the significant changes which occurred during and post the pandemic have now largely stabilised, and that “this year feels like the start of a new phase in the Company’s development”.
Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, said of the results: “Yet another set of next-level numbers has underlined the group’s unparalleled understanding of the market in which it operates and its ability to capitalise on new opportunities.”