First green shoots for American retailers in April

A number of US apparel retailers on Thursday reported modest increases in sales

at established stores for the month of April, as warmer weather saw shoppers venture out for spring clothing, as data collated by RTT News/dpa-AFX shows.

According to analysts, this shift responds to the shift of Easter from late March last year to mid-April this year and, together with the lift in sales reported in relation with Mother´s Day, has positively impacted retailer in America.

A good example was that of Zumiez, which reported an 8.2 percent rise in comparable-store sales (comps) for the four-week period ended May 3, 2014, compared with a comps increase of 4.6 percent for the four weeks ended May 4, 2013.

Analysts at Zacks Equity Research highlighted in a note issued Thursday that net sales for April rose 17.6 percent to $50.6 million from $43.0 million reported in the year-ago period. “We believe sales for the month have mainly benefited from strong Easter-related sales during the month due to the Easter shift to April this year,” they added.

Elsewhere, shares of Hong Kong retailers dropped Thursday, weighted by the news of a lower than usual number of tourists visiting Macau during the Labour Day break. Fashion retailer Giordano International dived to a three-year low after an interim net profit warning issued on Monday following a weakening demand in greater China. The stock lost 16.63 percent to HKD4.31 by the close of market.

In London, Ted Baker released its annual report which shows that revenues for the last year increased by 26.5 percent to 321.9 million pounds. Profit before tax and exceptional costs increased by 26.7 percent and profit before tax increased by 34.6 percent.

Still in the British capital, fashion peer SuperGroup suffered a price tumble for its stocks, after the shares shredded as much as 20 percent on Thursday after the company warned that its full-year profits would be “towards the lower end” of analysts’ estimates.