Retail sales bounce 0.5 percent in July

By NZPA

Friday 6th September 2002

New Zealand retail spending continued apace in July, with retail sales rising by a seasonally-adjusted 0.5 percent, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The figure matched private sector forecasts and took the annual retail sales growth to 8.7 percent.

Excluding motor vehicles, sales rose by a seasonally-adjusted 0.9 percent for the month.

Today's figures show that New Zealand is still somewhat insulated from the global retail slump.

In the United States poor August sales reports from retail giants Wal-Mart and Sears dampened the mood on Wall Street, heightening worries that US consumers will snap their wallets shut and crimp corporate profits.

US investors are now beginning to question whether consumer spending, the main engine behind US growth, can stand up in the face of a weak economy.

In contrast, The Warehouse -- New Zealand's largest listed retailer -- today met analysts' forecasts with an $82 million net profit for the full year to July 31 and said August sales figures were on expectation.

Today's retail sales rise was broad-based, with 10 of the 15 storetypes rising during the month. Motor vehicle sales and services, personal and household services, furnitures and floor coverings and recreational goods were the only groups to buck the trend.

The July data compared with a revised 0.6 percent increase in June. So far this year there have only been two monthly falls in retail sales.

The strongest rise in dollar value terms was in food retailing, which was up 1.1 percent for the month.

Motor vehicle sales fell by 0.4 percent and motor vehicle services, which include petrol sales and car maintenance, fell by 0.6 percent.

Actual sales for the month were $4.09 billion.

On a regional basis, sales growth was mixed. The Canterbury region, a strong export-based area, recorded the biggest rise in seasonally-adjusted sales in July -- up 2.9 percent for the month.

Sales in the rest of the South Island rose by 1.8 percent, while North Island sales fell by 0.5 percent.

In the North Island, only the Waikato (up 0.3 percent) posted an increase. Auckland had the largest decrease, down 0.8 percent.

Short term visitor arrivals were 5.4 percent higher in July 2002 than a year earlier, SNZ said. Credit card billings were 17.9 percent higher, new car registrations were up 5.8 percent, the Food Price Index was 3.3 percent higher, and building consents were up 62 percent.

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