Next

Lord Wolfson of Next also has this to say.

"It is very hard to determine whether the uncertainty over Brexit is having any effect on consumer spending and we can find no evidence that it is affecting spending on small ticket price items.

"Some suggest that the fact of Brexit, of itself, might undermine consumer confidence.

"Certainly, the first few weeks of the Autumn season have been disappointing. However, we believe that the warm start to September has done much more to hinder sales than the political temperature.

Our experience is that political storms, of themselves, rarely affect sales and consumers only change their behaviour when those events directly impair their income or increase their non-discretionary expenditure.

"Our view is that Brexit will only materially affect consumer spending in the event that it triggers inflationary pressure on prices or logistical problems at our ports."

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Here's more from Lord Wolfson, chief executive of clothing firm Next, on the results.

He reiterated that prices will fall 2% as new tariff rates would reduce its import duty costs by £25m as savings from lower world-wide tariffs would significantly outweigh the additional cost of new tariffs on EU goods.

"We have already agreed prices for 80% of the stock we plan to sell in the first half of next year and can see no evidence of any price increases on like-for-like products. In the event of a no-deal Brexit the UK’s tariffs on clothing will fall under the Government’s new temporary tariff regime announced in March," he said.

He added that "relatively little of our stock" arriving or leaving the UK does so via the Dover Calais route and "as a precaution we have already taken measures to move most of that traffic to alternative ports or airports".

He was a strong advocate of Brexit in the run-up to the referendum.

BBC

Some of the remarks by Next's chief executive Lord Wolfson after the results.

"So far, we have weathered the retail storm, we have adapted what we do and have a business model that, for the moment, works in an online world.

"Our sales and earnings per share are ahead of where they were five years ago, our business delivers healthy net margins and we remain highly cash generative.

"But although we can see a way through the woods, we are not out the other side yet.

"Consumer markets remain extremely volatile, the online world changes rapidly, and the uncomfortable transition away from high retail rents is by no means complete.

"It would be a huge mistake to underestimate the scale of the challenge facing our business or assume that, from here-on-in, all will progress smoothly."

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Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, says that 5% fall in Next is due to profit taking.

"Investors were perhaps looking for a bit more of a positive outlook" from the retailer, he said.

"The stock is starting to test the 2018 highs around £62 and the market maybe needs a little bit extra to get it over the line and today didn’t deliver that," he said.

"All in all though Next is in good shape," he said.

The chart shows the price over the last five years.

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The FTSE 100 is little changed as trading starts in London, down 19 points at 7,294.

Next, which published results earlier, is leading the fallers down 5%.

The FTSE 250 is down 10 points at 20,043.

Kier has fallen 6.5% after its results.

Newcast

Next has announced its half year profits and says brand full price sales were up 4.3% and -pre-tax profit rose 2.7% to £319.6m

The company said it was maintaining its guidance for the full year, as set out in its July trading statement, for pre-tax profit to be £725m (up +0.3% on last year).