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Next Plc (LON:NXT) announced that they would be suspending all their online sales operations, as there was a lot of pressure from the employees of the company, especially the one who could not be at home and were compelled to work in the warehousing and distribution centres to fulfil orders, during these terrible times.
Background
Next Plc is a Leicester, the United Kingdom based retail company that primarily deals in selling clothing, footwear as well as beauty products through its online channels such as its website and mobile application.
After this move, Next Plc also posted a note on its website, which mentioned that they wouldnât be operating until further notice as well as their warehouses and distribution centres will remain closed. It also mentioned that the orders which have already been shipped would reach on time to the customers. The company further announced that its Doncaster warehouse would be closed in the evening of 26th March 2020 and it would not be taking any online orders till the situation gets better in the country for the company to fully be operational.
Earlier, the company had to shut down all 500 of its brick and mortar stores in the country, after the announcement of a complete lockdown by the Prime Minister. The move came after the number of Covid-19 cases in the United Kingdom increased significantly during the last week, and people and health experts called out the government to announce a lockdown to suppress any further community transmission of the coronavirus.
It is being estimated that this decision will be extremely costly for the company, which has approximately 40,000 people working for them in all departments of its operations. The company has been previously successful in beating the retail sector blues, as unlike a lot of its competitors, the company was easily able to move its businesses and consumers online. It is reflected in its year to 31st January business, as the online sales were reported at £2.15 billion, while the in-store sales stood at £1.85 billion for the period. This move will have a significant impact on the operational as well as the financial outlook for the company during the year, as March is an important time for shoppers who are looking to buy new apparel in this change of weather.
The following is the companyâs stock price performance, a reflection of the how the shareholders have taken to the companyâs latest moves and how they expect the company to do once they become fully operational again.
NXT Share Price Performance
(Source: Thomson Reuters, as on 27-03-2020, before the close of the London Stock Exchange Market)
As on 27th March 2020, at 08:30 A.M GMT, at the time of writing this report, the Next Plc share was trading at a value of GBX 4273.54 on the London Stock Exchange market, weaker by approximately 5.19 per cent or GBX 234.46, as opposed to the price of the share on the previous trading day, which was reportedly at GBX 4508.00.
At the time of writing this report, the market capitalisation (M-Cap) of Next Plc stood at around GBP 5.99 billion, in reference to the market price of the companyâs share.
The companyâs share had shown a negative change in its price of around 21.07 per cent, in the previous one year, since March 27, 2019, when the share last traded at a price of GBX 5414.00. The companyâs share has also given a negative return of around 30.56 per cent in the last six months from the price GBX 6154.00 as of the time of the close of markets on September 27, 2019.
The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported to be at a value of 1.27 at the time of writing. This indicates the stock price movement of the company is more volatile, in comparison to the movement in the value of the comparative benchmark index.
How has the retail sector responded to the current situation?
Retail sector has had a very disappointing 2019, and while the things were expected to smoothen during the year, as there were signs of an increase in sales, everything fell apart once the coronavirus pandemic broke out. During this time, driven by high rent and lease costs, as well as by a significant decline in sales, a number of high street retail stores and companies either closed down or were put under administration. One of the biggest failures of these companies was also not to push their sales online, which could have saved a lot of rent costs for these companies. The Covid-19 outbreak has furthered the dark clouds on the retail sector.
The following is a comparative recent stock price performance of some of the key peers of Next Plc in the Retail segment of United Kingdom.
Share Price Performance
At the time of writing this report, as on 27th March 2020, at 08:35 A.M GMT, Â the AO World Plc share was at a value of GBX 67.80 on the London Stock Exchange market, lower by 0.29 per cent or GBX 0.20, as compared to the price of the share on the previous trading day, which was reportedly at GBX 68.00. At the time of writing this report, the market capitalisation (M-Cap) of AO World Plc was reported to be at a value of GBP 325.00 million, in reference with the market price of the companyâs share.
The companyâs share had reportedly shown a negative change in its price of around 31.72 per cent in value, in the previous one year, since March 27, 2019, when the share was trading at a price of GBX 99.30.00 at the time of the close of the market. In terms of the year to date performance, the companyâs share had shown a negative return of around 24.70 per cent (26th March 2020). The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported to be at a value of 0.25 at the time of writing.
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BOO Share Price Performance
As on 27th March 2020, at 08:40 A.M GMT, at the time of writing this report, the Boohoo Group Plc share was trading at a value of GBX 201.60 on the London Stock Exchange market, weaker by approximately 6.67 per cent or GBX 14.40, as opposed to the price of the share on the previous trading day, which was reportedly at GBX 216.00. At the time of writing this report, the market capitalisation (M-Cap) of Boohoo Group Plc was reported to be at a value of GBP 2.52 billion, in reference with the market price of the companyâs share.
In terms of the year to date performance, the companyâs share had shown a negative return of around 27.49 per cent (26th March 2020). The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported to be at a value of 1.76 at the time of writing.
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SHOE Share Price Performance
At the time of writing this report, as on 27th March 2020, at 08:45 A.M GMT, the Shoe Zone Plc share was at a value of GBX 89.50 on the London Stock Exchange, unchanged as against the previous trading day price. At the time of writing this report, the market capitalisation (M-Cap) of Shoe Zone Plc was reported to be at a value of GBP 44.74 million, in reference with the market price of the companyâs share.
The companyâs share had reportedly shown a negative change in its price of around 57.78 per cent in value, in the previous one year, since March 27, 2019, when the share was trading at a price of GBX 212.00 at the time of the close of the market. In terms of the year to date performance, the companyâs share had shown a negative return of around 45.09 per cent (26th March 2020). The beta of the companyâs stock has been reported to be at a value of 1.33 at the time of writing.
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Comparative Year to Date Share Price Chart of AO., BOO and SHOE
Source: Thomson Reuters, as on 26-03-2020, after the close of the London Stock Exchange Market
