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| | | | 02/05/2012 | Financial Times, Andrea Felsted and Mark Wembridge - Next blames wet weather for lower sales | | | | | Next blames wet weather for decline in sales | | | | | Next has blamed a reluctance among shoppers to brave the UK’s recent wet weather for a decline in sales at its retail outlets.
The retailer on Wednesday reported a 3.9 per cent year-on-year fall in first-quarter retail sales.
On a like-for-like basis - from stores open at least a year - retail sales fell by approaching 8 per cent from the same period the previous year, according to analysts’ estimates.
However, Lord Wolfson, chief executive, said: "You have got to be a little bit careful of assuming like-for-likes are a reflection of what is going on in the consumer economy."
He said that customers were actually spending 1.4 per cent more with Next - the increase in total brand sales in the 13 weeks to April 28.
The dismal weather failed to deter consumers from shopping online, with Next’s internet directory division reporting an 11.8 per cent year-on-year increase for the first quarter.
Lord Wolfson said customer credit with the group through its Next Directory business was increasing in line with sales. This indicated that consumers were confident enough to spend, but they were not shopping to such an extent that they might not be able to afford to pay for it later, and bad debts remained at a historically low level.
He said that fact that the UK was technically in recession made little difference to consumers.
"The reality is we are in an economy that is subdued, and coming out of recession that is what happens. The economy is still recovering from the credit crunch and its going to take a while to get better, but it’s as we expected it to be," he said.
"It will be more of the same, its tough but not terminal," he predicted.
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