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UK retailers post 1.6% sales growth in Q1

UK retailers post 1.6% sales growth in Q1

Mubasher: Retail sales in the UK surged 1.6% in the first quarter of 2019, compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Thursday.

With the exception to department stores and household goods stores, all stores recorded a sales growth in the three months ended March, when compared with the prior three months ended December.

In addition, UK retailers saw a sales growth of 1.1% in March, while the quantity bought climbed 6.7% year-on-year, recording the biggest gain since October 2016.

Most of the stores attributed the growth to the more favourable weather conditions this year, if compared with the same month of last year when “the Beast from the East” cold wave hit the nation.

Food stores and non-store retailers were the top performers during the month.

Department stores were the only segment that failed to contribute to the annual gain in March, as they endured a sales decline of 0.3%.

By 9:02 am GMT, the GBP/USD pair fell 0.23% to $1.3013, while the EUR/GBP declined 0.13% to GBP 0.8638.