Singapore retail sales a mixed bag; inches up 0.4% in April

RETAIL sales continued its lacklustre streak in April, ticking up marginally by 0.4 per cent compared to a year ago, dragged down by a sharp dip in computer and telecommunications equipment.

This followed March's 1.1 per cent drop in retail sales.

Excluding motor vehicle sales, retail takings inched up 0.7 per cent in April, according to Singapore Department of Statistics data released on Tuesday.

Performance among the retail industries was a mixed bag, with the largest decline seen in computer and telecommunications equipment (-9.8 per cent), followed by apparel and footwear (-3.4 per cent), supermarkets and hypermarkets (-2.3 per cent), and department stores (-1.7 per cent).

The top performer in April was petrol service stations, which reported a sales growth of 8.5 per cent, due partly to higher petrol prices.

On a month-on-month basis, seasonally-adjusted retail sales fared even worse, decreasing by 0.2 per cent in April. Excluding motor vehicles, retail sales declined 1.7 per cent.

The total retail sales value in April 2018 was estimated at S$3.6 billion, of which online sales accounted for about 4.4 per cent.

The food and beverage services index was also awash in red in April, dipping 1.2 per cent compared to a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, it fell by 3.4 per cent.

The total sales value of food and beverage services in April 2018 was estimated at S$662 million, lower than the S$670 million in April 2017.