Final Results

Next PLC
22 March 2001


Date:      Embargoed until 07.00am, Thursday 22 March 2001


Contacts:  David Jones, Chief Executive
           Next plc
           Tel:   [phone] (22/03/01)
           Tel:   [phone] (thereafter)

           Alistair Mackinnon-Musson
           Philip Dennis
           Hudson Sandler
           Tel:   [phone]
           Email: [e-mail]


                                     NEXT PLC

                     RESULTS FOR THE YEAR TO JANUARY 2001

*         Turnover up 11% to £1,588m

*         £218m profit before tax, up from £195m

*         Earnings per share up 22%

*         Post tax return on capital employed increased to 28%

*         Dividends increased by 14%


Sir Brian Pitman, Chairman, said:

'NEXT has delivered another set of excellent results for the year to January
2001. Turnover was up by 11%, earnings per share rose 22% and the post tax
return on capital increased to 28%. The current year has started well and we
expect to continue our progress in the year ahead.'


NEXT PLC

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The year to January 2001 was another period of good growth for NEXT. Profit
before tax increased to £218m, after absorbing the £9m interest cost of
financing the £192m buyback of 10% of our shares.

Earnings per share, a key measurement of performance, rose by 22% to 46.8p and
our post-tax return on capital employed increased to 28%.

The Board are pleased to recommend a final dividend of 16p, making a total of
24p for the year, compared with 21p last year, an increase of 14%. The
dividend is covered 1.9 times. Over the past five years, dividends have
increased by 104% and the share price has risen by 70%. Taking share price
appreciation and dividend income together, the total shareholder return over
this period has averaged 14% per annum.

During the year NEXT remained focused on delivering improved product to our
customers through better stores and catalogues. Looking forward we are
convinced that our strategy of building sales in the UK and Eire presents the
best opportunity for profitable growth.

In the year ahead, we again expect to generate surplus cash. NEXT will
continue with its ongoing strategy of using this surplus to buy back shares,
in order to enhance long term growth in earnings per share. Shares will only
be purchased when the price payable will result in an increase in earnings per
share and it is considered to be in the interest of shareholders generally.

I would like to thank everyone at NEXT for all their efforts during 2000. Our
continued success is the result of a great team of people working together to
provide our customers with quality products. I would also like to thank all
our suppliers who support us so well.

The current year has started well and we expect to continue our progress in
the year ahead.

Sir Brian Pitman
Chairman


NEXT PLC

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW

In the year to January 2001 NEXT achieved a trading profit before tax of £
217.1m compared to £195.6m last year. In addition there were exceptional items
which resulted in a gain of £1.3m this year compared to a charge of £0.9m last
year, making the total profit before tax £218.4m.

During the year we purchased for cancellation 10% of our shares (37.4m shares)
at an average price of 513p per share and a total cost of £192m. The share
buyback reduced profit before tax by £9m, being the interest cost on financing
the purchase price of the shares. However, from a cash flow perspective, this
reduction in interest receivable was offset by £8m of dividends saved on the
cancelled shares.

Earnings per share for the year were 46.8p compared to 38.4p last year, an
increase of 22%. The trading performance increased earnings per share by 17%
and the balance was attributable to the share buyback.

The turnover and trading profit from each of our divisions was as follows:


                          Turnover                        Profit
                        Excluding VAT                   Before Tax              
                        2001      2000                2001       2000
                          £m        £m                  £m         £m

NEXT Retail          1,127.0     985.4               141.6      128.8
NEXT Directory         300.9     274.7                39.3       30.5
NEXT Overseas           16.2      14.2                 3.1        2.5
Ventura                100.0     108.9                11.3        9.0
Clydesdale
 (Discontinued)         17.5      14.4                 2.8        2.5
Other Activities        26.9      27.8                14.4       14.4
                   ________   ________            ________   ________

                     1,588.5   1,425.4               212.5      187.7

Interest Income                                        4.6        7.9

Trading Profit before Tax                            217.1      195.6

Net Exceptional Items                                  1.3       (0.9)

                                                    ______   ________

Total Profit before Tax                              218.4      194.7
Taxation                                             (60.8)     (54.5)

Total Profit after Tax                               157.6      140.2
                                                   ________  ________


THE NEXT BRAND


The NEXT Brand is targeted at the top end of the mass market. We work hard to
provide our customers with products which have individual STYLING, are of good
QUALITY and are VALUE for money. NEXT designs its own products and sells them
under its own label by two methods of shopping: High Street Stores and Home
Shopping, which includes the Internet.

The NEXT Brand has had a successful year, with combined Retail and Directory
sales up 13% on the previous year and profit before tax also up 13% on the
previous year.

NEXT Retail

Total sales in NEXT Retail increased by 14% compared to the previous year.
Full price sales increased by 11% and like-for-like full price sales in the
stores that have been trading continuously for at least one year were 5% ahead
of the previous year.

During the year we continued our strategy of relocating to larger stores where
the existing space was too small and new space became available at a cost that
satisfied our investment criteria.

We closed 21 stores in order to resite in the following locations:

       Banbury, Bluewater, Coleraine, Inverness, Ipswich, London (Bow
       Lane, Covent Garden and Marble Arch), Middlesbrough, Oxford, Southampton,
       Sunderland, Tunbridge Wells, Windsor and Wood Green.

We also opened 10 new stores in the following locations:

       Darlington, Dumfries, Dundee, Galway, Glasgow, London Canary
       Wharf, Poole, Preston Deepdale, Rotherham Parkgate and Sheffield Chapel  
       Walk.

The resites and the new openings are performing in line with our expectations.

We extended 9 of our existing stores and closed 5 other stores. At the end of
January 2001 we had 336 stores with a total selling space of 1,643,000 square
feet compared with 1,465,000 square feet the previous year, an increase of
12%.

Our average store size has increased to 5,000 square feet and we now have 30
which are larger than 10,000 square feet. During the year we successfully
opened our largest store to date, one of 27,000 square feet in Bluewater,
Kent.

NEXT Directory

Sales in NEXT Directory increased by 10% compared to the previous year. Full
price sales also increased by 10%. The number of active customers increased by
11% and at the end of January 2001 had risen to 1,030,000.

Two years ago we explained that the increase in Home Shopping activities by
some of our competitors would make new customer recruitment more difficult and
more expensive. In anticipation of this, our response was to reduce marketing
spend and concentrate on the most cost effective recruitment methods. The
strength of our recruitment results in Spring/Summer 2000 encouraged us to
increase the marketing spend in Autumn/Winter 2000, and this has been
productive. In addition we have now consolidated the various small mid season
brochures into one hard cover catalogue and this has also been a success.

Sales through the Internet have continued to increase, for the year they
exceeded £20m and represented 7% of Directory sales. They are now running at
an annualised rate of £30m, which is approximately 10% of Directory sales.

NEXT OVERSEAS

Our overseas franchise operation had a satisfactory year, with sales
increasing by 14%. At the end of January 2001 we had 37 franchise stores
compared with 34 the previous year.

VENTURA

Last year, following a strategic review of the Ventura business, we announced
our intention to discontinue providing credit to other retailers. During the
year we sold our Clydesdale Financial Services subsidiary and terminated the
First Retail Finance joint ventures that we had with Bank of Scotland. As a
consequence of the review and disposals we have written off specific software
developments and associated hardware assets that had no value to Ventura's
ongoing business. The net result of these disposals and write offs is an
exceptional charge of £1.5m and Ventura will now focus on the provision of
call centre services and customer account management to companies who wish to
benefit from outsourcing these business activities.

Trading profit for the year from the continuing activities of Ventura
increased to £11.3m compared with £9.0m the previous year, an improvement of
25%, reflecting increased focus on its core customer services business.
Ventura now has three large call centres with a combined potential capacity of
4,000 workstations, and is able to accommodate additional business volumes
from new and existing clients.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

The profit of £14.4m includes £11m from NEXT Asia, our product sourcing
company in the Far East and £4.2m from NEXT Estates, our property management
division. During the year we sold a freehold property in Glasgow and the
resulting profit of £2.8m has been treated as an exceptional gain.

Other Activities also includes Callscan, our telecoms software subsidiary and
Choice, an associated company which operates a chain of 11 discount stores.

Central costs have increased this year due to the inclusion of the company's
share option and long term incentive plans as operating expenses.

BALANCE SHEET

NEXT retains a strong Balance Sheet. At the end of January 2001 we had net
cash balances of £94m.

Capital Expenditure for the year amounted to £62m. This was slightly higher
than we estimated a year ago due to shopfit expenditure on new stores acquired
in addition to our original expectations. We started last year with stocks
below the optimum level; the 20% increase during the year of £27m reflects
both the correction of that position and the higher volumes of business
generally.

The net cash outflow for the year was £29m after taking into account the £192m
cost of share repurchases and net £67m cash inflow from the Clydesdale
Financial Services and First Retail Finance transactions. Excluding these
items, NEXT had a net cash inflow of £96m for the year.

DIVIDEND

The Directors are pleased to recommend a final net dividend of 16p against 14p
last year, bringing the total for the year to 24p compared with 21p last year,
an increase of 14%. The dividend is covered 1.9 times by earnings per share of
46.8p.

THE YEAR AHEAD

The NEXT Brand

In the year ahead NEXT will remain focussed on delivering better product to
our customers through development of the NEXT Brand in the United Kingdom and
Eire.

NEXT Retail will benefit from additional selling space of at least 250,000
square feet in the coming year, the majority of which has already been
contracted. Two thirds of this additional space will be open by July,
including 9 stores which will each be in excess of 10,000 square feet.

NEXT Directory will aim to increase the number of active customers by
approximately 6%. We will continue to search for opportunities to increase the
product offer as well as ways to enhance further the service that we provide
to our customers.

We will continue to develop the Internet as a means of communicating with, and
selling to, our customers and we are well placed to take advantage of
developments in this market.

Ventura

Ventura will continue to develop its position as one of the UK's most cost
effective providers of outsourced call centre services and customer account
management. Those services include account set-up, account management,
billing, collections, telemarketing, customer loyalty and retention
programmes. Whilst the majority of customer contact is by voice, we are well
placed to take advantage of the growing market in managing data.

Purchase of own shares

We will again seek to enhance shareholder value by using surplus capital to
purchase our own shares when the price payable will result in an increase in
earnings per share. We currently have shareholder approval to do so and will
be seeking to renew the authority at our AGM on 16 May.

CURRENT TRADING

In the first seven weeks since the start of the new financial year NEXT Retail
sales are 18% ahead of the previous year. Like for like sales in the 275
stores which have been trading for at least one year are 11% ahead. NEXT
Directory sales for the first seven weeks are 17% ahead of the previous year.

Taken together, sales for the NEXT Brand are 18% ahead of last year.

We will make a further statement on current trading at our Annual General
Meeting on 16 May 2001.


David Jones

22 March 2001



NEXT PLC


CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT

For the financial year ended 27 January


                         Before    Exceptional             2001         2000
                    Exceptional          Items            Total
                         Items                      (Unaudited)
                             £m             £m               £m           £m

Turnover
Continuing activities   1,571.0              -           1,571.0     1,411.0
Discontinued activities    17.5              -              17.5        14.4

Total                   1,588.5              -           1,588.5     1,425.4
                       _________     _________         _________    _________

Operating profit
Continuing activities     209.7              -             209.7       177.8
Discontinued activities     2.8              -               2.8         2.5
                       _________     _________         _________    _________

Total                     212.5              -             212.5       180.3

Profit on disposal
 of businesses                -           12.1              12.1         2.4
(Loss)/profit on disposal
 of fixed assets              -          (10.8)            (10.8)        4.1

                      _________      _________          ________    _________

Profit before interest    212.5            1.3             213.8       186.8
Net interest receivable     4.6              -               4.6         7.9
                      _________      _________          ________    _________

Profit on ordinary
 activities before
 taxation                 217.1            1.3             218.4       194.7

Taxation on profit on
 ordinary activities                                       (60.8)      (54.5)

Profit on ordinary
 activities after taxation                                 157.6       140.2

Dividends                                                  (73.7)      (76.4)

Profit for the year
 transferred to reserves                                    83.9        63.8

                                                        _________    _________

Earnings per share                                          46.8p       38.4p

Adjusted earnings per share                                 46.5p       38.6p
(excluding exceptional items)

Diluted earnings per share                                  46.4p       37.9p


CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF TOTAL RECOGNISED GAINS AND LOSSES

For the financial year ended 27 January

                                                            2001         2000
                                                              £m           £m

Profit attributable to members of the parent company       157.6        140.2
Exchange difference on translation of net assets
 of subsidiary undertakings                                  0.8          0.1
                                                       _________    _________

Total recognised gains and losses relating to the year     158.4        140.3
                                                       _________    _________

NEXT PLC

Consolidated Balance Sheet

As at 27 January
                               
                                                    2001               2000
                                                      £m                 £m
                                              (Unaudited)
Fixed assets
Tangible assets                                    287.6              288.6
Investments                                            -                2.4
Investment in own shares                            39.4               48.8
                                                 _______            _______
                                                   327.0              339.8
                                                 _______            _______

Current assets

Property development stocks                          9.1                9.1
Stocks                                             164.9              137.5
Debtors                                            269.0              336.0
Cash at bank and in hand                           104.2              124.7
                                                 _______            _______

                                                   547.2              607.3

Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year     346.6              318.4
                                                 _______            _______

Net current assets                                 200.6              288.9
                                                 _______            _______

Total assets less current liabilities              527.6              628.7
Creditors: amounts falling due
 after more than one year                           18.5               15.0
Provision for liabilities and charges                9.4                7.0
                                                 _______            _______

Net assets                                         499.7              606.7
                                                 _______            _______

Capital and reserves
Called up share capital                             33.7               37.4
Share premium account                                3.8                3.7
Revaluation reserve                                 15.5               16.4
Other reserves                                       4.1                0.4
Profit and loss account                            442.6              548.8
                                                 _______            _______

Shareholders' funds                                499.7              606.7
                                                 _______            _______


NEXT PLC

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

For the financial year ended 27 January                  
                                                    2001              2000
                                                      £m                £m

Net cash inflow from operating activities          273.8             260.8
                                                  ______            _______

Dividends from associates                            1.4               1.0
                                                  ______            _______

Returns on investments and servicing of finance
Interest received                                    5.0               7.7
                                                 _______            _______

Taxation
UK corporation tax paid                            (59.7)            (61.9)
Overseas tax paid                                   (3.0)             (1.4)
                                                  _______            _______

                                                   (62.7)            (63.3)
                                                  _______            _______

Capital expenditure and financial investment
Purchase of tangible fixed assets                  (61.6)            (67.3)
Proceeds from disposal of fixed assets               4.5              11.1
Purchase of own shares by ESOP                         -             (22.9)
Receipts on disposal of shares by ESOP               8.5               6.4
                                                  _______            _______
                   
                                                   (48.6)            (72.7)
                                                  _______            _______

Acquisitions and disposals
Proceeds from disposal of subsidiary undertaking    85.7               0.9
Cash balances disposed with subsidiary              (0.2)                -
Purchase of subsidiary undertaking                 (18.6)                -
Overdraft acquired with subsidiary undertaking      (0.5)                -
Disposal of investment in associated undertaking     0.1               0.1
                                                  _______            _______

                                                    66.5               1.0
                                                  _______            _______

Equity dividends paid                              (72.0)            (71.5)
                                                  _______            _______

Changes in net funds resulting from cash flows     163.4              63.0
Management of liquid resources                      15.0             (56.7)

Financing
Issue of new shares                                  0.1                 -
Company shares purchased for cancellation         (191.8)                -
                                                 _______           _______

Repayments of capital element of finance leases     (0.4)             (0.5)
                                                 _______           _______

                                                  (192.1)             (0.5)
                                                 _______           _______

(Decrease)/increase in cash in the year            (13.7)              5.8
                                                 _______           _______

Reconciliation of net cash flow to
 movement in net funds
(Decrease)/increase in cash in the year            (13.7)              5.8
Cash (realised from reduction)/deposited          
 in liquid resources                               (15.0)             56.7
Repayments of capital element
 of finance leases                                   0.4               0.5
                                                 _______           ________
Changes in net funds
 resulting from cash flows                         (28.3)             63.0

Net funds at January 2000                          122.6              59.6
                                                 _______           _______

Net funds at January 2001                           94.3             122.6
                                                 _______           _______


NEXT PLC

BASIS OF PREPARATION


The report was approved by the Board of Directors on 22 March 2001.
Accounting policies adopted are consistent with those set out in the accounts
for the year ended January 2000. The financial information for the year ended
27 January 2001 is unaudited and does not constitute full accounts within the
meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The financial information
for the year ended 29 January 2000 has been extracted from the full accounts
for that year which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and on
which the auditors have issued an unqualified audit report.


SEGMENTAL INFORMATION

By business sector:                     
                               Turnover                Operating profit
                            2001        2000        2001                2000
                             £m           £m          £m                  £m

NEXT Retail              1,127.0       985.4       141.6               128.8
NEXT Directory             300.9       274.7        39.3                33.4
NEXT Overseas               16.2        14.2         3.1                 2.5
Ventura                    100.0       108.9        11.3                 3.0
Other activities            26.9        27.8        14.4                10.1
                       _________   _________   _________            _________

Continuing activities    1,571.0     1,411.0       209.7               177.8
Clydesdale
 (discontinued)             17.5        14.4         2.8                 2.5
                       _________   _________   _________            _________

                         1,588.5     1,425.4       212.5               180.3
                       _________   _________   _________            _________

By geographical destination:

United Kingdom           1,535.2     1,379.9       198.1               169.4
Rest of Europe              37.1        29.6         0.7                 0.6
North America                  -           -         0.2                 0.4
Middle East                  8.6         8.0         1.5                 1.3
Asia                         4.1         3.1        11.8                 7.9
Australasia                  3.5         4.8         0.2                 0.7
                       _________   _________    ________           _________

                         1,588.5     1,425.4       212.5               180.3
                       _________   _________    _________          _________

Turnover and operating profit of the Clydesdale discontinued business sector
all relate to the United Kingdom in both years in respect of the analysis by
geographical destination.


NEXT PLC

HALF YEAR ANALYSIS

For the financial year ended 27 January


Turnover
                       First    Second   2001     First    Second   2000
                       half     half              half     half
                       £m       £m       £m       £m       £m       £m

NEXT Retail            470.1    656.9    1,127.0  423.0    562.4    985.4
NEXT Directory         138.1    162.8    300.9    127.8    146.9    274.7
NEXT Overseas          6.9      9.3      16.2     6.8      7.4      14.2
Ventura                49.1     50.9     100.0    55.0     53.9     108.9
Clydesdale             8.6      8.9      17.5     7.5      6.9      14.4
(Discontinued)
Other Activities       12.3     14.6     26.9     12.5     15.3     27.8
                  _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

                       685.1    903.4    1,588.5  632.6    792.8    1,425.4
                  _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________

Profit before tax

NEXT Retail            46.1     95.5     141.6    39.4     89.4     128.8
NEXT Directory         17.6     21.7     39.3     12.4     18.1     30.5
NEXT Overseas          1.2      1.9      3.1      1.3      1.2      2.5
Ventura                5.1      6.2      11.3     4.4      4.6      9.0
Clydesdale             1.4      1.4      2.8      1.3      1.2      2.5
(Discontinued)
Other Activities       6.0      8.4      14.4     5.7      8.7      14.4
                  _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
                       77.4     135.1    212.5    64.5     123.2    187.7
Interest income        3.3      1.3      4.6      3.9      4.0      7.9
                  _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Trading Profit before  80.7     136.4    217.1    68.4     127.2    195.6
Tax
                  _________ _________           _________ _________
Exceptional items                        1.3                        (0.9)
                                         _________                   ________
Profit before Tax                        218.4                      194.7
                                         _________                   ________




NEXT PLC

EARNINGS PER SHARE

The calculation of earnings per share is based on £157.6m (2000: £140.2m)
being the profit for the year after taxation and 336.5m ordinary shares of 10p
each (2000: 365.1m), being the weighted average number of shares ranking for
dividend less the weighted average number of shares held by the ESOP during
the year.

An adjusted earnings per share has been shown excluding the effect of
operating and non-operating exceptional items in order to reflect the
underlying business performance as follows:

                                      2001             2000
                                        £m               £m

Earnings                             157.6            140.2
Profit on disposal of businesses     (12.1)            (2.4)
Disposal of fixed assets              10.8             (4.1)
Anticipated deficit in ESOP              -              4.3
Fixed asset impairment
 and restructuring costs                 -              6.0
VAT recovery                             -             (2.9)
                                   _______          _______

Adjusted earnings excluding
 exceptional items                   156.3            141.1
                                   _______          _______


                                     2001             2000
                                    pence            pence

Earnings per share                   46.8             38.4
Exceptional items                    (0.3)             0.2
                                  _______          _______

Adjusted earnings per share
 excluding exceptional items         46.5             38.6
                                  _______          _______

The calculation of diluted earnings per share is based on £157.6m (2000: £
140.2m) being the profit for the year after taxation and 339.4m ordinary
shares of 10p each (2000: 369.5m) being the weighted average number of shares
used for the calculation of earnings per share above increased by the dilutive
effect of potential ordinary shares from employee share option schemes of 2.9m
shares (2000: 4.4m shares).

RECONCILIATION OF SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS

                                           2001             2000
                                             £m               £m

Total recognised gains and losses         158.4            140.3
Dividends                                 (73.7)           (76.4)

Shares purchased for cancellation        (191.8)               -
New share capital issued                    0.1                -
                                         _______           ______

Total movement during the year           (107.0)            63.9
Shareholders' funds at January 2000       606.7            542.8
                                         _______          _______

Shareholders' funds at January 2001       499.7            606.7
                                         _______          _______


NEXT PLC

CASH FLOW: RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROFIT TO NET CASH FLOW

                                            2001            2000
                                              £m              £m

Operating profit before interest and
 non-operating exceptional items           212.5           180.3
Depreciation                                41.3            36.1
Impairment of fixed assets                     -             5.2
Loss on disposal of fixed assets             5.4             5.9
Anticipated deficit in ESOP                  0.9             4.3
Income from interest in
 associated undertakings                    (1.1)           (2.0)
(Increase)/decrease in stock               (27.5)            4.5
Decrease/(increase) in debtors              13.5           (10.7)
Increase in creditors                       25.5            37.3
Increase/(decrease) in provision
 for liabilities and charges                 2.5            (0.2)
Exchange movement                            0.8             0.1
                                         _______         _______

Net cash inflow from operating activities  273.8           260.8
                                         _______         _______

CASH FLOW: ANALYSIS OF NET FUNDS

                                 January               Cash          January
                                    2000               Flow             2001
                                      £m                 £m               £m

Cash in hand                        19.6               (5.4)             14.2
Overnight deposits                   5.1               (0.1)              5.0
Overdrafts                          (1.6)              (8.2)             (9.8)
                                 _______             _______          _______

                                    23.1              (13.7)              9.4
Short term deposits                100.0              (15.0)             85.0
Finance leases                      (0.5)               0.4              (0.1)
                                 _______             _______          _______

Total                              122.6              (28.3)             94.3
                                 _______             _______          _______


AGM/DIVIDEND/ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

It is intended that the recommended dividend will be paid on 2 July 2001 to
Shareholders registered on 1 June 2001. The Annual General Meeting will be
held at the Gibson Hall, 13 Bishopgate, London EC2M on Wednesday 16 May 2001.
The Annual Report and Accounts will be sent to shareholders by 11 April 2001
and copies will be available from the Company's registered office: Desford
Road, Enderby, Leicester LE9 5AT.




                                    -ENDS-