U.S. Retailers Post Best Monthly Sales Gain Since 2011
Source: Bloomberg
By Cotten Timberlake May 8, 2014 11:10 AM ET
U.S. retailers posted a 6 percent comparable-stores sales gain in April, the biggest increase since September 2011, as better weather and the late Easter as well as aggressive promotions attracted shoppers.
The jump in sales at stores open at least a year handily beat the 3.9 percent gain that was the average of analysts’ estimates, researcher Retail Metrics Inc. said today. Combined March and April sales rose 4.8 percent from a year earlier.
The firm said retailers may not entirely be in the clear yet. Positive sales results would need to follow in May to confirm the trend, and discounts of as much as 50 percent may hurt retailers’ first-quarter earnings.
“We need to carry through with solid Mother’s Day and Memorial Day weekend sales leading to a solid May result before we would feel more comfortable the consumer is back,” Ken Perkins, president of the Swampscott, Massachusetts-based firm, said in a statement today.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-08/u-s-retailers-post-best-monthly-sales-gain-since-2011.html
