Next reveals 19 percent increase in first-half profits

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LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Next, Britain's second biggest clothing retailer by sales value, reported a 19.3 percent rise in first-half profit, with growth at both its stores and home shopping business.

The group, which trades from over 500 stores in Britain and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , about 200 stores overseas, and through its Directory internet and catalogue business, said pretax profits were 324.2 million pounds (525 million US dollar) in the six months to July, up from 271.8 million pounds in the same period last year.

Next is outperforming rivals, such as Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) , because of a strong online offer, a constant stream of new store openings and diversification into new product areas, such as homewares, as well as new overseas markets.

The group said on Thursday that its strong performance had in some part been down to external factors, such as the improving economy, low interest rates and availability of credit, which may be less favourable next year.

Next reiterated the guidance it issued in July, when it raised its outlook for annual sales and profit for the second time in three months, forecasting 2014-15 sales growth of 7-10 percent and a pretax profit of 775-815 million pounds, up 11-17 percent.

The retailer also provided more specific guidance about the sales target, predicting third-quarter growth of 10 percent and fourth-quarter growth of 4 percent, due to the tough comparatives it expects.

(1 US dollar = 0.6172 British pound) (Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Jane Merriman)