U.K. Retailers Expect Sales To Fall In June: CBI Survey

(RTTNews) - U.K. retailers expect another fall in sales in June, according to the quarterly Distributive Trades Survey published by the Confederation of British Industry. The volume of sales on the high street during the last month were lower than a year ago, the report showed Thursday.

Around 30% of retailers said that the volume of sales rose during the first two weeks in May and 48% reported decline. The resulting balance of negative 18% was a much weaker than expected by respondents, and also the lowest since March 2009.

Retailers are negative about next month, with a balance of minus 15% indicating that another fall in sales volume is expected. The survey was conducted between April 27 and May 12.

Further, the survey showed that price inflation continued to rise. About 54% of retailers said average selling prices increased and 5% said they fell. A net 5% of firms expect the overall business situation to deteriorate over the coming three months.

"These retail sales figures for the early part of May are clearly disappointing, with many sectors failing to achieve higher sales than a year ago," said Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser. "It appears that shoppers are feeling the pinch again and are being cautious with their purchases, given the squeeze to real incomes from higher prices and only a modest rise in average pay."