MNI DATA IMPACT: UK Retail Sales Exceeds Expectations in Apr>

By Shaily Mittal and Laurie Laird

     LONDON (MNI) - Retail sales volumes remained steady in April, far 

exceeding expectations of a retreat after an unusually-strong showing in 

March. 

     The following are the key points from UK Retail Sales data 

published Friday by the Office for National Statistics. 

     - Brexit uncertainty has failed to discourage the UK consumer.  

Retail sales volumes were unchanged between March and April, far 

exceeding expections of a 0.8% fall.

     - Unusually-strong sales in March were revised even higher, rising 

by 1.2% over April. That lifted first quarter sales by 1.7% over the 

final three months of 2018, but the slight upward revision will not 

affect later iterations of GDP, according to an ONS official. 

     - Retail inflation remained subdued, despite a rise in consumer 

prices in April.  The implied retail price deflator rose by an annual 

rate of 0.2%, down from 0.7% in March, the smallest rise since November  

2016.

     - Non-store retailing -- largely comprised of internet sales -- 

accounted for much of the strength in sales volumes, rising by 0.8% 

between March and April, and by 20.6% over the same period a year 

earlier. 

     - However, internet sales fell by 2.6% in value terms between March 

and April, taking the percentage of internet sales to 18.7% of total 

sales volumes from a record-high 19.0% in March.  The ONS has no 

immediate plans to introduce a series of internet sales by volume, 

according to an official. 

-London bureau: 44 (0) 203 865 3812; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDS$]