–BRC: UK Dec Like-for-Like Sales -0.3% y/y; Total 1.5% y/y
–BRC: UK Oct-Dec like-for-Like Sales 0.4% y/y; Total Up 2.2%

LONDON, (MNI) – UK retail sales values fell on the year in a snow
hit December, posting their first decline since back in April.

The monthly retail sales monitor from the British Retail
Consortium-KPMG found like-for-like retail sales were down 0.3% on the
year, with total sales up 1.5%. The BRC survey found non-food sales were
down on a year ago but food sales growth was maintained.

The exceptionally cold weather and heavy snowfall, at least by UK
standards, were cited by BRC and KPMG as key factors in the poor sales
outturn.

Food sales were up 2.1% in the three months through December on a
year ago on a like-for-like basis, while non-food sales fell 0.8% on the
same basis. In all, like-for-like sales in October through December were
up just 0.4%.

Retailers reported non-food sales did pick-up in the final week of
December, ahead of the looming January Value Added Tax increase, but
food sales declined after a strong pre-Christmas week.

“Non-food improved as shoppers headed out in the final week to take
advantage of clearance bargains in advance of the VAT rise, so releasing
a level of pent-up demand. However, this was not enough to make good the
pre-Christmas shortfall and was at lower margin due to the commencement
of the sales,” Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail at KPMG, said.

“The unusually early winter weather made a difficult Christmas
worse. With mounting concerns about the impact of spending cuts and the
wider economy, sales growth has been weak since last summer,” Stephen
Robertson, Director General at the BRC, said.

The weak sales outturn for December will also reflect base effects.
In December last year like-for-like sales were up 4.2% and total sales
up 6.0%.

On a sectoral basis, the BRC reported clothes sales fell back in
December, footwear sales growth slowed and department store sales were
mixed, but in general slower than in November.

The BRC survey covered the five weeks from Nov 28 to January 1.

–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7492; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com

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