British retail same store sales surged in April at their fastest rate in more than four years, industry data showed today.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said like-for-like sales rose by 6.8 per cent in April from a year ago - the biggest annual rise since March 2002 - after a 1.4 per cent fall in March.
Total sales, which include new floorspace, were up 9.8 per cent. That was also the strongest year-on-year reading since March 2002 and followed a 1.6 per cent rise in March.
However, the BRC cautioned against reading too much into the data, which it said had been distorted by the fact that Easter fell in April this year, whereas it had been in March last year.
"While any uplift in sales is welcome, the distortion arising from the timing of Easter and the weather underlines the need for caution in interpreting these figures," said BRC Director General Kevin Hawkins.
Taken together, same store sales in March and April were up a more modest 2.2 per cent year-on-year, which would still indicated a significant turnaround in retailers' fortunes.
Total in March and April rose 5.3 per cent on the year, the BRC said. The latest figures may help reinforce expectations that the Bank of England's next move in interest rates will be up from the current 4.5 per cent.