By Svenja O’Donnell
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. consumer confidence jumped in September by the most since 1995 as optimism about the economy’s prospects rebounded, GfK NOP said.
An index of sentiment rose to minus 16, the highest since January 2008, from minus 25 the previous month, the market researcher said in an e-mailed statement today in London. A gauge of confidence in the economy for the next year increased 13 points to 4, the highest in more than a decade.
“Psychologically important is the fact that confidence in people’s own personal finances for the next 12 months and confidence in the general economy over the next 12 months both moved into positive territory, after being in the red for well over a year,” Nick Moon, Social Research managing director at GfK, said in the statement.
Marks & Spencer Group Plc, the U.K.’s largest clothing retailer, today reported the smallest drop in same-store sales for two years and said confidence among customers “has reached the bottom.” Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling predicted this week that an economic recovery may be under way by the end of the year.
The pound rose for a second day against the dollar after the GfK report. The U.K. currency traded at $1.6058 as of 8:49 a.m. in London.
The index of personal finances in the next year rose 5 points to 5, the report showed. The index measuring the climate for major purchases rose 11 points to minus 15. GfK surveyed 1,999 people from Sept. 4 to Sept. 13.
M&S Sales
Retailers saying sales increased this month from a year earlier outnumbered those reporting declines by 3 percentage points, compared with a reading of minus 16 points in August, the CBI said yesterday.
M&S said that sales at U.K. stores open at least a year fell 0.5 percent in the 13 weeks ended Sept. 26. That beat the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News for a 1.6 percent drop. The retailer raised its margin forecast.
Moss Bros Group Plc, the U.K.’s third-largest suit retailer, said yesterday it may restart opening new stores this year amid signs the decline in sales is slowing.
The U.K. economy shrank 0.6 percent in the second quarter, less than previously estimated, as the slump in manufacturing and construction started to ease, the Office for National Statistics said yesterday.
Today’s report still showed that consumers, who have 1.5 trillion pounds ($2.4 trillion) in debts, may be getting keener to save. GfK’s measure of whether now is a good time to save rose to minus 5 from minus 10. The household savings ratio, a measure of savings as a proportion of post-tax income, jumped to 5.6 percent in the second quarter, the most since 2003, the statistics office said yesterday.
To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O’Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net.
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