1Q20 Update Next reported a strong 1Q20, with full-price product sales up 4.0% year over year. With 0.3% of this contributed by new space, the company saw inferred comparable product sales growth of 3.7%. Retail (in-store) full-price sales were down 3.6% versus the consensus estimate of a 5.7% decline, as recorded by StreetAccount. Online full-price sales were up 11.8% versus consensus of 12.6%. Including interest income, 1Q20 full-price sales were up 4.5%, which the company said compared to its internal forecast of 3.2% for the quarter. Management pointed to unusually warm weather over the Easter holiday period as supporting in-store sales in 1Q20. Outlook Management said its 1Q20 overperformance cannot be extrapolated to the rest of the year and maintained guidance for FY20 full-price sales including interest income to be up 1.7%. Comparatives will become more demanding in 2Q20 due to an unusually warm spring and summer in 2018. The company expects to report FY20 pretax profit of £715 million, down 1.1%, and EPS up 3.4%.