April Retail News

Retail Sales in the UK during April 06 picked up 6.8% on a like-for-like basis against a weak comparative in April 2005 when sales dropped 4.7%.  The volume of retail sales volume has now returned to the previous peak of last December.

 

With Easter falling in April this year compared to March 2005 plus the unseasonably cold weather in March both have combined to distort sales patterns.  Combining April and March sales figures show that like for like sales were up only 2.2% whilst total sales rose 5.3%.

 

From February 06 to April 06 the volume of retail sales was 0.1% higher than in the previous three months.  The three months to March 06 saw a decrease of 0.6% in comparison to 0.1% for the same period in 2005.

 

 

The warmer weather and the impact of Easter have helped clothing and footwear sales as well as giving a welcome uplift to the DIY Sector.

 

The unadjusted value of retail sales was 1.4% higher than in the same period a year earlier.  The average weekly value of sales in April was £4.7 billion, 3.6% higher than April 2005.

 

Kevin Hawkins, Director General, of the British Retail Consortium said: “While any uplift in sales is welcome, the distortion arising from the timing of Easter and the weather underlines the need for caution in interpreting these figures. Discounting has also played a big part in these results. We need to see the figures for this month, which will be directly comparable with last May, before forming any tentative conclusion about the underlying trend.”  

 

Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG comments: “This month’s very strong results cannot be read in isolation due to the impact of the timing of Easter.  If we take the combined results of March and April they show lower growth rates of around 5% for total sales and 2% for like-for-like, albeit against a weak comparative period last year.  Whilst retailers will not be getting carried away with these results they will be hoping that they signal the start to a strong summer trading period.  Although the English weather and Sven’s men doing well in Germany may have a major say in that.”

Source www.brc.org.uk                            www.statistics.gov.uk