Next plc (LON:NXT) chairman John Barton has announced his intention to step down this August, after 15 years at the helm of the retailer.
Mr Barton has been in charge of the high-street clothing brand since 2002, and is said to be replaced this summer by Michael Roney.
Next issued a concise statement about the changeover, commenting that Barton had made “outstanding contribution” to the development of the company and that “his leadership, experience and wise counsel have been tremendously valuable over that time”.
Barton’s successor, Michael Roney, was previously head of FTSE 100 company Bunzl (LON:BNZL) for just under a decade between 2005 and 2016, and currently chairs Grafton Group (LON:GFTU). In the meantime, Roney will join the company board as an independent non-executive director and as both a deputy chairman and chairman designate as of Tuesday during the transitional period.
In terms of performance, Next has started the 2017 with underwhelming figures for the Christmas retail period, usually one of the most profitable seasons for the industry. In January the company made the announcement that it plans to cut its profit guidance for the current financial year and issued a warning on outlook for the following year, following a fall in revenue over the festive retail period.
Next noted that its guidance for pre-tax profit for the full-year to end-January 2017 is now resting at £792 million, a reduction from the £805 million previously anticipated.
In addition, the company also expects pre-tax profit to hover between £680 million-£780 million for the full financial year, a downgrade from market analysts’ average estimates which rested at £784 million.
The Next brand currently has 750 stores in operation, with 550 located within its major United Kingdom market base. As of 2012, Next became the largest clothing retailer in Britain, overtaking supermarket giant Marks and Spencer.
Amid the announcement, shares in Next plc gained a modest 1.02 percent as of 13.48PM (GMT).