Economic Diary March 7, 2010 IT IS a busy week ahead on the economics front once again. While last week was dominated by central bank decisions from across the world and independent surveys, this week we will see a slew of statistics that may or may not confirm rebounding consumer confidence and output. UK February Sales figures due In the [...]
Record low for food inflation March 2, 2010 FOOD PRICES are increasing at their slowest annual rate in three years thanks to the falling cost of fresh food according to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC)-Nielsen shop price index published today. Food prices were just 1.3 per cent higher on a year earlier in February compared to an annual increase of 2.9 per cent [...]
London retail sales growth slows down February 14, 2010 RETAIL sales in London grew at their slowest rate for five years as the stronger pound made the capital less attractive for overseas shoppers. Sales were 3.5 per cent up on the previous January, according to a report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). In January 2009 sales figures grew by 6.5 per cent compared [...]
Pubs and restaurants see sales jump in December despite gloom January 18, 2010 PUB and restaurant groups managed a 2.9 per cent year-on-year increase in sales in December despite poor weather, fewer Christmas parties and price hikes ahead of the VAT increase this month. However, the increase was lower than the 4.7 per cent total like-for-like growth in 2009. Mark Sheehan from Coffer Group, which published the figures, [...]
Shoplifting surges during downturn January 6, 2010 RETAIL crime rose 10 per cent to £1.1bn last year, according to a report published by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The biggest share of this figure is shoplifting, which accounts for 94 per cent of all retail crime incidents and £462m in lost sales, said the BRC’s Retail Crime Survey 2009. The BRC [...]
Retail reporting bonanza set to reveal festive cheer January 12, 2010 TOMORROW promises a reporting bonanza, with Christmas updates expected to reveal robust trading over the festive season. Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, is expected to reveal an increase in their 2009/2010 profit forecast after sales growth last year. Meanwhile Halfords, HMV, Mothercare, Premier Oil and Premier Foods, the UK’s largest food producer, [...]
Deficit for UK traded goods worst in year February 9, 2010 THERE were more signs that the UK will face a tough slog back to economic recovery yesterday after trade data for the end of last year was weaker than expected. The UK’s deficit in traded goods widened to £7.3bn in December from £6.8bn the previous month; this is the largest deficit for a year as [...]
ECONOMIC DIARY February 7, 2010 AFTER the Bank of England announced that it would be pausing, at least for now, its quantitative easing policy, the big event in the UK this week will be the quarterly inflation report on Wednesday morning. The Bank is expected to revise down its growth forecast while revising up its inflation predictions and will give [...]
Shoppers steer clear of the stores as the wintery weather continues January 11, 2010 HEAVY snow and ice is keeping shoppers from the stores, with retail traffic dropping around 21 per cent year-on-year since the latest snowfalls began on 6 January. Overall shopper numbers in non-food stores in the UK on Sunday, 10 January were down 14 per cent from the equivalent Sunday last year, said research company Synovate. [...]
Morrisons to trump its retail rivals January 17, 2010 WM MORRISON supermarkets is expected to announce outstanding trading results this week as it emerges from the Christmas period outperforming its rivals. Like-for-like sales of the UK’s fourth biggest supermarket chain are predicted to have improved seven per cent on the previous year, adding to the impressive turnaround overseen by soon-to-depart chief executive Marc Bolland. Bolland [...]