Next pledges to fight planning obstacles Next pledged to take a tougher approach to securing planning approval for new stores on Thursday as it reported a 9 per cent increase in annual underlying pre-tax profit. The clothing retailer - led by Conservative peer Lord Wolfson - said it would pressurise councils that blocked its expansion, arguing that it was encountering "an unhealthy mix of Luddite intransigence and incompetence" in a few places. It said: "In areas where councils traditionally have got away with just saying "no," we will be more active in harnessing the law and the full weight of public opinion to campaign for growth." David Keens, Next finance director, said the weakness of the UK economy made it important to support investment projects that created jobs. He cited its experience in Sheffield - where the city council refused to let it build a big out-of-town store - as the sort of situation in which it would now take a tougher stance. New store openings were an important factor in the FTSE 100 group's growth in the 12 months to January 2013. Its sales for the year were £3.6bn, up 4 per cent on 2011. This was aided by the addition of 250,000 square feet of new selling space, which offset a decline in sales in established stores. The company expects to add at least as much new space in the current financial year. Pre-tax profit was £667m, up 15 per cent. Stripping out exceptional items - including a £42m pension scheme gain that flattered the latest results - pre-tax profit rose 9 per cent to £622m. The group said the mood among UK shoppers was set to remain subdued as salaries failed to keep pace with inflation. Trading in the first few weeks of the year had been quiet, it added, predicting that underlying annual pre-tax profit could grow by 7 per cent at the top end of its expectations, or shrink by 1 per cent at the bottom end Diluted earnings per share rose 13 per cent to 275.1p. This growth was helped by share buybacks, a practice that Next defended at length on Thursday against critics, who include City veteran Terry Smith. The total dividend for the year is 105p, up 17 per cent. Shares in Next were up 0.4 per cent at £41.62 in early morning trading in London on Thursday. They have risen 43 per cent over the past year.