One of the leading cloth retailers in the UK, Next has said that it has revised upwards its forecasts for sales on Thursday following increased sales during the Christmas season.

The company increased its forecasts for year to end-January 2013 pre-tax profit to 611million - 625 million pounds compared to a previous guidance of 590-620 million pounds. The company said that the sales was as per expectations and measures including cost control, markdowns and gross margins have all been better than expected.

Retailers in the UK have been facing a difficult situation as customers face the pressure due to lower income and unemployment. Analysts say that Next has more or less escaped the affects of the slowdown due to strong online offers, a host of new stores and diversification into the new segments such as home wares and overseas markets.

The retailer has said that the total sales increased 3.9 percent in the November 1 to December 24 period as the company saw increased customer attention. The company had recorded a rise of 2.7 percent in its third quarter. The increase in the year has been 3.9 percent, which is in line with the guidance of 3.0 to 4.5 percent.

"We think it is unlikely there will be any dramatic change in the consumer environment in the year ahead," the company said.