UK retail sales volumes have bounced back to growth of 0.5% in April, following a fall of 1.2%.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, sales volumes rose by 0.8% in the three months to April 2023 when compared with the previous three months, which now represents the highest rate since the August 2021 growth of 1.3%.

Non-food stores sales volumes rose by 1.0% in April 2023, following a fall of 1.8% in March when poor weather conditions throughout most of March affected performance. The ONS notes the Met Office recorded the sixth wettest March since records began in 1836, while the weather in April was around average for the month.

Food stores sales volumes rose by 0.7% in April 2023, following a fall of 0.8% in March 2023.

Grocery sales volumes rose by 0.2% in the three months to April 2023 when compared with the previous three months, which marks the first rise in this series since August 2022.

Despite this increase, food stores sales volumes remain 2.7% below their pre-coronavirus February 2020 levels.

Non-store retailing (mainly online retailers) record a sales volume rise of 0.2%, following a fall of 1.4% in March 2023.

Despite falling fuel prices, automotive fuel sales volumes fell by 2.2% in April 2023, following a rise of 0.1% in March 2023 when sales volumes may have been affected by industrial action.

Morning update

On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 has edged back up 0.2% to 7,584.2pts.

Risers include PayPoint, up 2% to 400p, Nichols, up 2% to 989p and Deliveroo, up 1.7% to 109.9p.

Fallers include Bakkavor, down 3.2% to 91.8p, Pets at Home, down 2.1% to 350.2p and Virgin Wines, down 1.9% tp 31.1p. 

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 recorded its third consecutive day of falls, dropping 0.7% to 7,570.9pts.

Pets at Home lost 2.6% to 357.6p despite posting record sales as elevated costs hit margins.

Fever-Tree was down 0.8% to 1,423p as it said it was on target to hit City expectations in a trading update, while Tate & Lyle gained 1.9% to 799.5p after posting double-digit sales and profit growth.

Elsewhere, risers included C&C Group, up 4.7% to 141.8p, McBride, up 2.2% to 30.7p, Premier Foods, up 1.4% to 134.4p, Cranswick, up 1.3% to 3,216p, Compass Group, up 0.9% to 2,208p and Greencore, up 0.8% to 76p.

Fallers included Coca-Cola AHB, down 4.4% to 2,391p, Imperial Brands, down 4.2% to 1,722p, PayPoint, down 3.3% to 392p, British American Tobacco, down 2.7% to 2,663p and Ocado, down 2.2% to 402.9p.

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