LONDON: British shoppers cut back on spending in the three months to December for the first time since last spring, adding to evidence of a consumer slowdown as Brexit approaches, data showed on Friday.
Retail sales volumes fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a 0.2 percent rise in the three months to November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Friday’s data chimed with other signs that consumer spending is cooling after a strong summer.
Businesses are also cutting investment before Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union in late March, leaving the overall economy growing at a snail’s pace.
In December alone, retail sales fell 0.9 percent, recoiling after November’s Black Friday splurges, but were 3.0 percent higher than a year earlier. Both readings were below economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll.
“A major concern for retailers will be that already cautious consumers further limit their spending in the near term at least due to the heightened uncertainties over Brexit,” economist Howard Archer from the EY ITEM Club consultancy said.
Sterling and British government bonds were little changed after the data.
The ONS said the value of sales fell for the first time in three years in the three months to December, underlining a squeeze on retailers’ profit margins as they battle for customers.
A survey last week from the British Retail Consortium showed retailers failed to increase Christmas sales for the first time since the depths of the global financial crisis a decade ago.
Supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Morrison missed Christmas sales forecasts though Tesco beat them. Clothing retailer Next and department store John Lewis reported a late surge in demand.
The ONS data showed a drop in sales of carpets and floor coverings, possibly reflecting a stalling housing market.
While disarray over Brexit has weighed on consumer confidence, there has been some comfort for households recently with the fastest underlying pay growth since 2008 and inflation falling to an almost two-year low of 2.1 percent.
Highlighting the easing of inflation pressures, the ONS’s measure of annual price increases in stores cooled to 0.6 percent in December from 1.3 percent in November, the smallest uptick in more than two years.
UK shoppers rein in spending as Brexit nears
UK shoppers rein in spending as Brexit nears
- Retail sales volumes fell 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter after a 0.2 percent rise in the three months to November
- Businesses are also cutting investment before Britain’s scheduled departure from the EU in late March
Closing Bell: Saudi Arabia’s main index closes in red at 10,364
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index closed lower on Sunday, shedding 185.05 points, or 1.75 percent, to end the session at 10,364.03.
Total trading turnover on the benchmark index stood at SR2.55 billion ($680 million), with 20 stocks advancing and 237 declining.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu also retreated, falling 0.63 percent, or 147.19 points, to close at 23,371.82.
The MSCI Tadawul Index slipped 1.71 percent to 1,369.56.
Saudi Industrial Export Co. was the top gainer on the main market, with its share price jumping 9.87 percent to SR2.56.
Shares of Naqi Water Co. rose 2.53 percent to SR58.80, while Shatirah House Restaurant Co. advanced 2.18 percent to SR9.39.
On the downside, Gulf Union Alahlia Cooperative Insurance Co. posted the steepest decline, with its share price falling 4.61 percent to SR10.14.
On the announcements front, Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co. said it had been awarded a contract valued at SR260.98 million by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development to supply uncooked food materials and catering items to beneficiaries at the ministry’s residential branches across the Kingdom.
The project scope also includes providing cooked meals to selected anti-begging offices over a 24-month period, according to a Tadawul statement. The company added that the financial impact of the contract will begin in the fourth quarter of this year.
It said further developments would be disclosed in due course after all relevant parties sign the final contract and a copy is received.
Shares of Scientific & Medical Equipment House Co. edged up 0.31 percent to SR32.44.
Separately, Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co. and its subsidiaries signed an agreement with Oloof Development Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Jazan Municipality, to lease a strategic land plot in Jazan City for SR217.99 million.
According to a Tadawul statement, the land, which spans 34,581 sq. meters, will be used to develop an integrated healthcare facility under a 50-year lease.
The company said the financial impact of the agreement is expected to begin once the medical facility is completed and becomes operational.
Shares of Dr. Soliman Abdel Kader Fakeeh Hospital Co. fell 1.92 percent to SR33.74.
