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The company posted a profit of £185.5 million for the six months to the end of July, marginally above the upper estimate given by analysts, who, according to Reuters, had predicted a figure of between £177 million and £185 million.
Those trading Next shares on the stock market may be interested to note that sales - both in-store and through its Next Directory home delivery service - were better than expected.
High street sales fell 1.2 per cent over the six months, while Directory transactions were up 1.7 per cent.
However, the firm warned that it "can see no reason for the consumer outlook to significantly change through the rest of this year", noting that trading in the second half is likely to be more challenging.
Next shares were up almost five per cent in afternoon trading, climbing to 1,780.05p at 14:30 BST.
