Soggy April dampens high street sales and footfall – leaving retail giants scrambling

LAST month was a washout for retailers, with heavy April showers dampening sales and footfall.

The sector’s lacklustre performance has raised fears the UK’s recovery could be losing steam.

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British Retail Consortium (BRC) data shows footfall sank by 7.2 per cent, with the high street, retail parks and shopping centres all hit.

Even when the effect of an early Easter is stripped out, total footfall was down by 4.2 per cent.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “All locations saw declines on the previous month, and nearly all major cities performed poorly.”

Meanwhile, retail spending figures by accounting firm BDO show that shop sales slumped by 1.7 per cent.

Fashion retailers were the worst hit, with clothing sales sliding by 8.3 per cent — the eighth monthly fall in a row.

Wet and unseasonably cold weather has made it even harder for fashion retailers to try to tempt cash-strapped shoppers into buying spring fashions.

Even Next — considered the strongest name in retail — has been cautious about the impact of weather on its business.

The firm has resisted raising its profit guidance, despite strong trading in the first quarter.

Some retailers, such as Matalan, Fat Face, Marks & Spencer, Whistles and Oliver Bonas, have already launched sales in order to lure shoppers back.

But the bad weather has made it even more difficult for struggling retailers, such as Superdry, to generate much-needed cash.

Set fire to reign of AI

ADELE, Drake and Billie Eilish tracks will soon be returning to Tiktok after Universal Music Group ended its months-long boycott over artificial intelligence.

It announced a deal with the video-sharing app that boosts compensation for its artists and also introduces rules around songs created with AI.

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The music giant pulled its back catalogue amid fears deep-fakes could up-end the industry and deny artists their dues.

Universal artist Taylor Swift, who owns her own copyrights, allowed her music back on TikTok last month.

Universal boss Sir Lucian Grainge told staff in a memo seen by The Sun the deal helps “guide the industry’s evolution towards a future where human artistry must be respected”.

Fat jabs booming

SALES of fat jab Wegovy doubled to nearly £1billion in the first three months of the year, according to Danish drug-maker Novo Nordisk.

A boom in demand for its weight-loss drug has made the firm Europe’s most valuable company, at £300billion.

It said Wegovy sales rose 106 per cent globally and 76 per cent in Europe.

It has 130,000 weekly prescriptions in the US and more than 25,000 people starting it per week.

Profits hit £6BN at Shell

PROFITS keep gushing at oil giant Shell as it raked in £6.1billion in the first three months of this year.

That was £1billion more than the City was expecting, but a drop on last year’s £7.7billion when it was boosted by higher energy prices.

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The healthy profits prompted Shell to announce a new £2.79billion share buyback for investors, in the latest step by boss Wael Sawan to drive up the firm’s share price.

Some investors are still calling for bigger returns as analysts reckon it generates £47billion cashflow a year.

Last month, Mr Sawan threatened to shift Shell’s London listing to New York unless the valuation gap to its US peers, such as Exxon and Chevron, closes.

It comes as Shell faces a stormy investors meeting later this month, with some wanting the company to have tighter carbon-reduction targets.

Nightcap Revs up

NIGHTCAP, the late-night bar business run by ex-Dragons’ Den star Sarah Willingham, is in takeover talks with troubled Revolution Bars.

The cocktail chain last month raised a £12.5million cash lifeline alongside plans to shut 18 of its 80 venues.

It said it discussed a “range of possible transactions” with Nightcap, including a possible offer for the entire company.

Nightcap shares rose 8.5 per cent to 4.5p, valuing it at £10.5million.

Revolution’s value is £7.8million after shares leapt 15 per cent to 1.66p.

Coutts in reboot

ROYAL bank Coutts, still embroiled in a debanking row with Nigel Farage, has said it will take £2billion of clients’ funds out of the London stock market and invest in overseas companies instead.

Coutts is part of Natwest, which is 28 per cent owned by the Government — although a “Tell Sid”-style public offer is expected this summer.

Coutts’ chief investment officer Fahad Kamal said around 20 per cent of its assets were in UK stocks, adding that was a “home bias” that needed “fundamental change”.

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk