Next warns of 8% price rise for spring and summer

Retail giant Next has warned that it will increase prices for its spring and summer clothes and home goods by 8% as rising costs bite.

Shoppers will also see price rises extend into the autumn and winter, the retailer said, but the increase will not be as sharp.

While Next reported strong trading over the Christmas period, it gave a cautious outlook for the year ahead.

It said high energy bills and mortgage costs would dampen consumer demand.

Next said it expects price increases across its business will ease back to "no more than" 6% in the second half of the year as issues such as shipping costs settle down and the cost of key items like cotton and polyester decline.

The High Street giant reported a 4.8% rise in sales for the nine weeks to December 30 following a "dramatic boost" from the cold weather last month.

"We believe that the strength of demand for cold weather products in December was partly a result of pent-up demand from an unusually warm October and November," it said.