LONDON (Reuters) -Confidence among British retailers fell at the sharpest pace in five years and a decline in sales volumes gathered pace as stores expect conditions to worsen, a Confederation of British Industry survey showed on Tuesday.
The CBI’s quarterly gauge of business sentiment plunged in May with a net balance of firms expecting their business situation to worsen over the coming three months at -29% in May from -19% in February. It was the lowest reading since May 2020.
Its monthly gauge of how retail sales compared with a year earlier fell to -27 this month – the lowest since March – from -8 in April, which had been its highest since October.
A measure of expected sales for June fell to -37, the lowest since February 2024.
“This was a fairly downbeat survey and highlights some of the challenges facing the retail and wider distribution sector. In contrast to other recent retail data, this survey suggests parts of the sector are still struggling with fragile consumer demand, though online sales seem to be holding up better,” Ben Jones, lead economist at the CBI, said.
Official data last week showed British retail sales jumped by much more than expected in April.
The CBI’s quarterly survey also suggested that retailers were cutting back on hiring, scaling back investment and expected to increase their selling prices at the fastest pace in more than a year.
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla)
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