LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - British retail sales recovered last month from January's snow-related slide, helped by strong sales of clothing and footwear, a survey by the British Retail Consortium showed on Tuesday.
The BRC said the value of sales last month was 2.2 percent higher than a year ago when measured on a like-for-like basis. That followed a 0.7 percent annual drop the previous month which was the worst January reading since the survey began 15 years ago.
Total sales, which include new floorspace, rose by an annual 4.5 percent, a full percentage point above the average reading for 2009.
The industry group said growth was driven by customers catching up with sales shopping they had been unable to do in January. Stripping out weather-related distortions, the figures were less robust than they seemed.
'Despite appearances, these results are not that strong,' said BRC director-general Stephen Robertson. 'The growth is compared with very weak figures a year ago -- when February saw the worst of last winter's weather -- and this February's performance was helped by sales postponed from January.'
Britain suffered its harshest cold snap in 30 years in January when heavy snow forced thousands of shops and businesses to close.
Retailers were also hit by a rise in value-added tax to 17.5 percent at the start of the year after a 13-month reduction to 15 percent.
(Reporting by Christina Fincher; editing by Patrick Graham) Keywords: BRITAIN RETAIL/BRC (uk.economics@reuters.com; Tel +44 207 542 7748) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
The BRC said the value of sales last month was 2.2 percent higher than a year ago when measured on a like-for-like basis. That followed a 0.7 percent annual drop the previous month which was the worst January reading since the survey began 15 years ago.
Total sales, which include new floorspace, rose by an annual 4.5 percent, a full percentage point above the average reading for 2009.
The industry group said growth was driven by customers catching up with sales shopping they had been unable to do in January. Stripping out weather-related distortions, the figures were less robust than they seemed.
'Despite appearances, these results are not that strong,' said BRC director-general Stephen Robertson. 'The growth is compared with very weak figures a year ago -- when February saw the worst of last winter's weather -- and this February's performance was helped by sales postponed from January.'
Britain suffered its harshest cold snap in 30 years in January when heavy snow forced thousands of shops and businesses to close.
Retailers were also hit by a rise in value-added tax to 17.5 percent at the start of the year after a 13-month reduction to 15 percent.
(Reporting by Christina Fincher; editing by Patrick Graham) Keywords: BRITAIN RETAIL/BRC (uk.economics@reuters.com; Tel +44 207 542 7748) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.