Next has reviewed its fashion ranges

The group said it made �301m ($473m) profit before tax, a 13% increase over the previous year.

But it warned that the current sales trend in its shops was flat.

The chief executive, Simon Wolfson, said the mail order business had had a particularly good year with sales up 30%.

Bigger stores

Last autumn Next suffered because the warm weather put people off buying winter clothes and M&S was winning back customers.

Next also admitted to making mistakes with its winter ranges, but group finance director David Keens said those problems had now been resolved.

"Some of our clothing was biased towards the harder fashion end and was quite trim in terms of shape: it didn't suit all of our customers," he said.

The clothes were heavily discounted and that cut into profits.

Next is still expanding and will add another 20 stores this year, with some of its smaller shops closing to make way for the bigger outlets.