2020.03.1004:33:00UTC+00UK Retail Sales Fall Unexpectedly In February: BRC

UK like-for-like retail sales declined in February despite rising consumer confidence, data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed on Tuesday.

Like-for-like sales fell 0.4 percent annually in February, confounding expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent.

"Clouds continued to hang over the retail industry in February, as storm Ciara, Dennis and Jorge took their toll on retail sales, particularly in fashion," Helen Dickinson, chief executive at BRC, said.

Despite many indicators suggesting a rise in confidence among UK shoppers in recent months, this has failed to translate into higher retail sales, Dickinson noted.

The highly anticipated 'Boris Bounce' has clearly struggled to materialize in the embroiled retail sector, and looking ahead Covid-19 is not likely to help matters, Paul Martin, partner, UK head of retail, KPMG, said.