Shares in UK clothing retailer Next soared to the top of the London market on Thursday after it said colder weather boosted purchases despite a cost-of-living crisis caused by sky-high inflation.

Next's share price jumped seven per cent to £65.26 (€74.11) on the benchmark FTSE 100 index, which was up modestly overall. 

Sales of full-price items rose around five per cent in the nine weeks to December 30 from a year earlier, the company said in a statement. That beat its own guidance for a modest decline and sparked an upgrade to its final 2022 earnings due in March.

Sales of full-price items rose around 5% in the nine weeks to December 30 from a year earlier

Annual pre-tax profit was now expected to climb 4.5 per cent to £860 million from the previous year. That compared with prior guidance of £840 million.

Next said it experienced a "dramatic boost" to sales when the weather turned colder in December.

"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 added.

However, the group expects sales to dip 1.5 per cent over the year as a whole, with consumer sentiment dented by persistently high inflation.