At the close of share trading on 13 November 2009, the market investor ratios for Next plc, the UK fashion and textiles retailer, and the averages for the ‘general retailers’ section, were as follows:

	Next plc	General retailers section
Dividend yield (%)	2.8	2.75
P/E ratio (times)	12.3	17.60
Dividend cover (times)	2.8	2.07

Source: Financial Times, 14 November 2009.

Required:

Comment on what can be deduced about Next plc, relative to the general retailers sector, from

an equity investor’s point of view.