UK August Retail Sales Values Pick Up in August: BRC

UK Aug Like For Like Retail Sales +1.3% Y/Y Vs Jul +0.9%

By Jamie Satchithanantham

     LONDON (MNI) - UK retailers achieved solid growth in sales in August, with

non-food items goods back in the black, a survey published Tuesday showed.

     The British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor reported August

like-for-like sales rose +1.3% on the year, above the +0.9% y/y seen in July.

Like-for-like sales were down 0.9% y/y last August.   

     Elsewhere, total sales were up 2.4% y/y in August, up from 1.4% y/y in

July, the highest showing in four months. Total sales were down 0.3% y/y last

August.  

     Last month, strong food sales, primarily driving growth, were offset by a

contraction in that of non-food items and in August the latter returned to

expansionary territory, delivering more balanced growth.    

     In the three months to August, effectively covering the bulk of this

summer, food sales were up +1.8% 3m y/y on a like-for-like basis and +3.2% 3m

y/y on a total basis.

     These figures were weaker than those recorded in the three months to July

(+2.3% 3m y/y like-for-like, +3.4% 3m y/y total) but drastically better than

those recorded 12 months ago (+0.1% 3m y/y like-for-like, +0.5% 3m y/y total.

     Non-food sales grew 0.6% 3m y/y on a like-for-like basis, having contracted

0.7% 3m y/y in the 3m to July (the worst performance since the three months to

March) and increased 0.9% 3m y/y on a total basis, after falling 0.4% 3m y/y in

July.

     "August provided a welcome pick-up in retail sales across channels, with

non-food returning to growth as shoppers' attentions turned to homewares, autumn

clothing ranges and the new school term," Helen Dickinson, Chief Executive,

British Retail Consortium said.

     "However, these figures tell a less positive story about the health of

consumer spending than it might seem at first glance. Non-food sales have only

just recovered to levels seen two years ago, after a dismal August in 2016;

while strong figures for food are largely the result of rising prices, leaving

growth in volume terms weaker than last year," she added.

     The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor measures retail sales in value terms, and

not volume terms like the official data published by the Office of National

Statistics, and is thus culpable of having its figures flattered by rising

prices.

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203-586-2226; email: jamie.satchithanantham@marketnews.com