Sharechat Logo

NZ credit, debit card spending falls in February

Friday 9th March 2012

Text too small?

New Zealanders spent less on their credit and debit cards last month, led by a decline in spending on accommodation, bars, restaurants and clothing.

The value of total transactions fell 0.3 percent, seasonally adjusted, to $5.43 billion in February, according to Statistics New Zealand. That follows gains across all eight industry groups in January. Spending on core retail industries, which strips out motor-vehicle related expenditure, fell 0.5 percent to $3.35 billion.

The decline in spending in the latest month raises questions about the sustainability of sales growth among retailers this year. Warehouse Group, the biggest retailer on the NZX, today said trading conditions are expected "to remain uncertain" through its financial year. While it lifted sales, profit adjusted to exclude a one-time gain fell in the first half.

Spending on accommodation, bars, cafes and restaurants fell 2.5 percent to $591 million in February, seasonally adjusted, and spending on apparel fell 2 percent to $274 million. Warehouse's results showed clothing was the only product group where its sales declined in its first half.

Spending on durables, which includes furniture, hardware and appliances, fell 0.3 percent to $998 million. Consumables, which includes food and liquor, was the only core retail industry to show a gain, up 0.5 percent to $1.48 billion.

Total retail spending, including fuel and motor vehicles, fell 0.7 percent to $4.08 billion. Sales of fuel rose 0.1 percent to $634 million while spending on vehicles declined 1.2 percent to $107 million.

Unadjusted spending in core retailing rose 8 percent from February 2011, reflecting an extra day this year because of leap year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz



  General Finance Advertising    

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Add your comment:
Your name:
Your email:
Not displayed to the public
Comment:
Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved.

Related News:

Second St John withdrawal of labour takes effect tomorrow with further strikes likely
Sanford Appoints Independent Director
CRP ADVISES CLOSURE OF SHARE OFFER TO EXISTING INVESTOR
Devon Funds Morning Note - 14 August 2024
OCR 5.25% - Monetary restraint tempered as inflation converges on target
Consumers still need due diligence as new deposit takers emerge.
Woolworths strike: staff asked to dress up in Disney costumes for a week on their own dollar
Turners Invests in Quashed Online Insurance Platform
PGW Reports on Challenging Year
Arvida Announces Executive Team Changes