Annual Financial Report

RNS Number : 7403Q

Next PLC

17 April 2009

 



Next plc

Annual Financial Report for year ended January 2009

Including the Notice of Annual General Meeting ('AGM') - convened for 19 May 2009

The Company announces that the Annual Financial Report for the year ended January 2009 has been posted on its website, www.nextplc.co.uk. A hard copy has been sent to shareholders who wish to continue receiving paper communications and a Notice of Availability on the website has been sent to shareholders who no longer receive hard copy. A copy of the Annual Financial Report has been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will shortly be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility which is situated at:

Financial Services Authority

25 The North Colonnade

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5HS

Telephone: [phone]

A J R McKinlay 

Company Secretary 

Next plc 

The Appendix to this announcement is a supplement to our preliminary statement of financial results made on 26 March 2009 (the 'Final Results Announcement'). It contains the information required pursuant to DTR 6.3.5(2)(b) that is in addition to the information communicated in the Final Results Announcement, and should be read together with the Final Results Announcement.

Appendix

Risks & uncertainties    

The Chief Executive's Review in the preliminary statement of Final Results issued on 26 March 2009 includes a commentary on the primary uncertainties affecting the Group's businesses for 2009/10. Further details of other risks and uncertainties faced by the Next group are set out on pages 14 and 15 of the 2008 Annual Report, a copy of which is available on the Company's website at www.nextplc.co.uk. In addition to risks identified in the 2008 Annual Report and the Chief Executive's Review, the 2009 Annual Report has identified one further principal risk, credit risk and liquidity, details of which are as follows:

In the current economic climate, Next is exposed to a greater degree of credit risk than in previous years. Rigorous procedures are in place with regard to the Group's customers and these procedures have received an increase in focus. Key suppliers whose services are essential to the successful running of the business also face credit risk. These include the supply and printing of the Directory, provision of core IT systems and certain systems and suppliers in the Group's delivery and distribution network. The Group has conducted a risk assessment of key suppliers to identify alternatives and developed contingency plans in the event any of these suppliers fail.

The Group has adequate medium and long term financing in place to support its business operations for the foreseeable future. The Board has critically reassessed its exposure to counterparty risk in the light of the global economic climate and its treasury policy has been amended to further restrict counterparties with which deposits, investments and other transactions may be made.  

Segmental analysis    

The results for the financial year are for the 52 weeks to 24 January 2009 (last year 52 weeks to 26 January 2008) with the exception of Ventura, Next Sourcing and certain other activities which relate to the calendar year to 31 January.

The Group has adopted IFRS 8 Operating Segments in the current year. The Group's operating segments under IFRS have been determined based on the management accounts reviewed by the Board of Directors. The Board assesses the performance of the operating segments based on profits before interest and tax, excluding share option charges recognised under IFRS 2  Share Based Payment and unrealised foreign exchange gains or losses on derivative instruments.

The activities and products and services of the reportable segments are detailed in the Chief Executive's Review. Under IFRS 8 an additional reportable segment has arisen, Property Management. This segment holds properties which are sub-leased to other segments and external parties.  

Information regarding the Group's operating segments is reported below. Amounts reported for the prior year have been restated to conform to the requirements of IFRS 8.

	External revenue		Internal revenue		Total revenue
	2009 £m	2008 £m	2009 £m	2008 £m	2009 £m	2008 £m
Next Retail	2,197.9	2,255.1	4.0	-	2,201.9	2,255.1
Next Directory	816.4	799.8	-	-	816.4	799.8
	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____
Next Brand	3,014.3	3,054.9	4.0	-	3,018.3	3,054.9
Next International	68.6	54.1	-	-	68.6	54.1
Next Sourcing	5.9	6.4	594.8	613.5	600.7	619.9
Ventura	161.9	203.7	4.3	4.2	166.2	207.9
Property Management	6.7	6.6	174.2	158.3	180.9	164.9
Other	14.1	3.4	0.4	-	14.5	3.4
Eliminations	-	-	(777.7)	(776.0)	(777.7)	(776.0)
	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____
	3,271.5	3,329.1	-	-	3,271.5	3,329.1
	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____	_____

Other segment revenues comprise sales by Lipsy and third party distribution activities.

	Segment profit
	2009     £m	2008     £m
Next Retail	288.8	319.9
Next Directory	157.6	164.4
	_____	_____
Next Brand	446.4	484.3
Next International	9.0	7.1
Next Sourcing	32.0	32.8
Ventura	5.1	21.5
Property Management	0.8	3.9
	_____	_____
Total segment profit	493.3	549.6
Other activities	(3.7)	(7.2)
Share option charge	(8.9)	(8.8)
Unrealised foreign exchange (loss)/gain	(3.3)	2.3
	_____	_____
Trading profit	477.4	535.9
Share of results of associates	0.9	1.2
Finance income	1.3	4.3
Finance costs	(50.8)	(43.3)
	_____	_____
Profit before tax	428.8	498.1
	_____	_____

Transactions between business segments are made on an arm's length basis in a manner similar to those with third parties. Segment revenue and segment profit include transactions between business segments; these transactions are eliminated on consolidation.

Directors' Responsibility Statement

The annual financial report contains a responsibility statement in the form set out below.

Directors' responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable United Kingdom law and those International Financial Reporting Standards ('IFRS') as adopted by the European Union.

The Directors are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which present fairly the position of the Company and the Group and the financial performance and cash flows of the Company and the Group for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are required to:

-	select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
-	present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information;
-	provide additional disclosures when compliance with the specific requirements of IFRS is insufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the Group's financial position and performance; and
-	state that the Company and the Group have complied with IFRS, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements.

The Directors confirm that the financial statements comply with the above requirements.

The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and of the Group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Responsibility Statement 

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

a)	the financial statements, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted for use in the European Union, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and results of the Company and the Group; and
b)	the management report incorporated into the Directors' Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

By order of the Board

Simon Wolfson            David Keens

Chief Executive            Group Finance Director

 

END

 

 

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