LONDON (MNI) – UK retail sales rose 1.2% on a like-for-like basis
in June, up from May’s growth rate of 0.8%, due to sunny summer weather
and earlier clearance sales on the High Street, but only benefited from
a limited affect from the World Cup, according to the monthly retail
sales monitor by the British Retail Consortium-KPMG.
Total retail sales rose 3.4% y/y compared to 3.0% in May and up
from 3.2% in June 2009.
“The performance is better when you remember the comparison is with
a similarly strong performance in a sunny June a year ago,” said Stephen
Robertson, BRC’s Director General.
Non-food retailing was mixed in June. Non-food like-for-like sales
were flat as against up 1.3% in May.
Total non-food sales in June rose 2.0% from 3.5% the month prior.
TVs were the only football-related item that generated significant
spending. Sales for gardening items were solid, but sales of homewares
and indoor DIY ‘lost out.’
Summer clothing sold less well than the weather might have
suggested as many bought when the sun first arrived in May, said
BRC-KPMG.
“Trundling along is an apt description for this month’s sales,”
said Helen Dickinson, head of retail for KPMG. “While the World Cup did
impact performance on individual days and provide a welcome uplift for
some, it did not shift overall spending patterns much one way or the
other.”
BRC-KPMG said the UK’s emergency austerity budget was affecting
confidence, but “it won’t be until the impact of the measures is
actually felt that it really hits spending,” added BRC’s Robertson.
The BRC noted that the increase in VAT in January 2011 could
affect sales and confidence near the end of the year.
–Tel: +44 207 862 7481; email: stephanie.sprague@ntkn.com
–London newsroom: email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com
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