UK April retail sales fall 0.1 pct vs March, missing consensus for 0.4 pct rise

UK April retail sales fall 0.1 pct vs March, missing consensus for 0.4 pct rise

	Published : Fri, 18 May 2007 09:52 By : Agencies Print this Story

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Retail sales in the UK declined slightly in April from March, missing expectations for a modest rise, as falling sales in department stores and household goods retailers undermined the expected boost from the fine weather and Easter sales, official figures showed.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales on a seasonally adjusted basis fell by 0.1 pct between April and March, missing expectations for a 0.4 pct rise, and were up 4.2 pct on April last year, also lower than the 4.5 pct analysts had expected.

March's figures, by contrast, were revised upwards to show month-on-month retail sales growth of 0.5 pct, from 0.3 pct, and a year-on-year rise of 5.0 pct, from 4.8 pct.

Despite April's falling sales, a leading price indicator rose. The implied deflator for April was up 1.0 pct over the same month in 2006, higher than March's 0.4 pct and the strongest since February 1999's 1.2 pct.

A closer look at the figures shows sales falling 3.0 pct month-on-month in household goods stores, particularly electrical retailers, and by 0.3 pct at non-specialised retailers such as department stores.

Rising sales were reported notably for clothing, up 1.0 pct, and non-store retailers -- such as mail order and internet companies -- which saw sales up 2.5 pct on the month.

Meanwhile, the statistics office also said retail sales were 1.2 pct higher in the three months to April from the previous three-month period, and 0.1 pct higher than the same time last year. Within this rise was a 17.0 pct year-on-year increase in sales at non-store retailers, the highest since records began in 1986.

Based on non-seasonally adjusted data, the average weekly value of retail sales in April was 4.9 bln stg, 5.0 pct higher than in April last year and up 3.3 pct from March.

Earlier this month, the British Retail Consortium's monitor also showed sales growth slowed in April from March. The BRC reported like-for-like sales rose 2.4 pct year on year, compared with March's 3.9 pct.

alex.brittain@thomson.com

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