Next

 

Kicking off the festive reporting season for retailers we have the multi-channel fashion and home wares company Next, who have yet again underplayed their performance. Today’s trading statement covers the nine week period to December 27th, with full price sales coming in ahead of guidance and up by 10.6%. That’s added a further £15m to the full year profit outlook, with the momentum expected to continue into the New Year. Full price sales are set to grow by 4.5% in the period to January 2027 and assuming there are no acquisitions, some £768m is available for capital returns, equating to almost 5% of the company’s current market cap. The Next share price is up 3% in early trade.

 

Seeing Machines

 

Some modest gains for Seeing Machines this morning, the company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety. In a note to the market, the company announced it would receive accelerated royalty payments of $14.1m in one tranche rather than spread across four years owing to a material change in the production program. Whilst this gives a significant working capital advantage and will see the company post its first quarter of positive earnings and cash, the market has given the news a tepid response. The Seeing Machines share price started the session 3% higher but had given back most of those gains in the first 30 minutes.

 

Cadence Minerals

 

The developer of mineral resources announced this morning that they had been granted a preliminary environmental license for an Iron ore project in Brazil. Management see this as a significant regulatory milestone for the company, confirming acceptance of the proposed scale of the operation, which has the potential to generate almost $2bn at net present value over the next 15 years, with Cadence owning just over a third of the project. The Cadence Minerals share price was up 17% in early trade.

 

Most read news on Investegate this morning

 

Trading Statement - - Next (NXT)

Agreement - - Seeing Machines Ltd. NPV (DI) (SEE)

Senior Management Changes: Appointment of New CEO - - Prospex Energy (PXEN)