Next Can Break the £1 Billion UK Profit Curse
Next's biggest rival Marks & Spencer Group Plc is perhaps best known for suffering from this affliction. The high street stalwart hit the magic number in 1997 and 1998, when it was enjoying a surge in fashion sales, which then accounted for the bulk of its revenue and was very profitable. But to reach that target, M&S invested more in its bodysuits and blazers than in equally stylish stores. Customers eventually noticed. By 1999, after a damaging succession battle, profit had halved.
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