Next warns of 'toughest year since 2008' as profits rise to £821m

High street giant Next sent out a warning shot from the retail sector as it cautioned over profits for the year ahead and said 2016 could be the "toughest" since the financial crisis.

The group - seen as a retail bellwether - posted a 5% rise in underlying pre-tax profits to £821.3 million for the year to the end of January, having already warned over results in January after a difficult Christmas due to unusually warm weather.

Next said it was bracing itself for a slowdown in the global economy and for profits to fall by up to 4.5% in a year that "may well be the toughest we have faced since 2008".