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Good news for retailers

UK high street activity picks up markedly in December - CBI UPDATE
LONDON (AFX) - High street activity picked up markedly in December, the UK's
largest business lobby group said today.
In its monthly distributive trades survey, the Confederation of British
Industry said its volume of sales balance in December stood at 0 pct, against
-35 pct in November and analysts expectations of a modest improvement to -22
pct.
That was the first time since February that the balance was not negative and
the monthly improvement represented the biggest positive move in over ten years.
The CBI's survey has come under some criticism over the last few months for
not predicting the official retail sales figures from the office for National
Statistics.
Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic advisor said Christmas, in
retailing terms is coming later and later each year "as consumers play chicken
with the high street and delay their spending in the expectation of late price
cuts as the big day draws nearer".
And, with Christmas falling on a Sunday this year, he said it is likely that
that most people will leave their shopping until late on, right up to the moment
the tills close on Christmas Eve.
In addition, the CBI said the recent cold snap has helped boost demand for
groceries, clothes and footwear. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that retailers
resorted to aggressive price discounting and bulk-buy offers to attract
customers.
Turning to other sectors covered by the survey, wholesalers' sales volumes
have remained modestly better than this time last year. But motor traders' sales
have continued to decline in annual terms.
Despite the improvement in December, the CBI noted that the volume of sales
is still lower than retailers would normally expect at this time of year at -11
pct.