Next market value hits £10bn milestone as shares rise on festive season news

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 6, 2021

Fashion, beauty and home retail giant Next reached a milestone on Wednesday as its shares rose and its market capitalisation topped £10 billion.

The company had come close to that figure on Tuesday after it issued a favourable Christmas trading update and its shares headed upwards. But it finally jumped over the £10 billion mark on Wednesday morning with its shares, at one point, priced at 7,682p each. At mid-day, its market cap was £10.14 billion.

It makes the firm’s market value more than three times that of rival M&S, which some years ago had itself been valued almost at £14 billion. It also makes it more than double the value of relative newcomer Boohoo and almost twice the value of Asos.

The share price surge came after the company reported just a tiny fall in festive season sales, despite the impact of lockdowns denting its physical store turnover.

GlobalData analyst Amy Higginbotham said that the company’s online operations and “broad product range” served it well.

And she added that even with current lockdowns, “the outlook for Next is positive. It is well placed to capitalise on the collapse of Debenhams – according to GlobalData’s How Britain Shops 2020 survey, 31.3% and 16.1% of Debenhams’ clothing and homewares shoppers respectively also purchase from Next”.