Revenue at Next was £19m higher than forecast in the UK and £51m higher overseas. However, UK retail sales were down 0.3% in the quarter and 1.7% in the half. The retailer has therefore increased its pre-tax profit guidance by £25m to £1.24bn, up 7.3% on last year. Next said that its equity investments had performed “better than expected” and therefore was also increasing its full-year profit forecast by £10m. AdvertisementThe UK retail giant is maintaining its guidance for full price sales for the rest of the year to be up 5.0% on last year.