Sales in retail trade, hotels and restaurants - 1. quarter of 2007

Retail trade including the automotive segment

In Q1 2007, seasonally adjusted sales in retail trade including the automotive segment grew by 2.9% quarter-on-quarter at constant prices; in the automotive segment by 4.3% and in retail trade by 2.2%. The long-term growth of the trend furthermore slightly accelerated in Q1 2007. Year-on-year, sales increased by 8.9% in total, in the automotive segment by 10.9% and in retail trade by 7.9%.
Not seasonally adjusted sales in retail trade including the automotive segment increased by 9.4% year-on-year at constant prices. This growth was by 0.5 percentage points higher than seasonally adjusted growth even though working time availability was in Q1 2007 one day lower compared to the same period in 2006. The reason was a change of seasonality, which came about already in the previous period (the influence of season on the sales development is decreasing).

High sale growth was recorded in all of the three months of the evaluated quarter.

• Automotive segment (CZ-NACE 50)

The year-on-year sales in the automotive segment grew by 10.7%, which meant acceleration compared to the individual quarters of 2006. Acceleration of the growth occurred also in Q1 2007 (from +9.1% in January to +12.2% in March). High sales in all of the months of the quarter were recorded mainly in sale of motor vehicles, vehicle parts and motorcycles, while on average for the quarter sales increased, compared to the same period of the last year, by 13.1%.
The given development corresponded also with the statistics of first registrations of vehicles (passenger cars, small commercial vehicles, commercial vehicles and public service vehicles), carried out and published by the Automotive Industry Association. In Q1 2007 their number increased by 32.5%, of which the number of registrations of new vehicles by 12.6% and used vehicles by 55.7%. The growth concerned all of the vehicle categories (from 10.5% for public service vehicles to 35% for passenger cars).
The sale growth of automotive fuel gradually accelerated in Q1 from 3.1% in January to 12.7% in March, for the whole quarter it amounted to 8.1%.

• Retail trade (CZ-NACE 52)

In retail trade except of motor vehicles and motorcycles sales in Q1 2007 increased by 8.8%, which was more than in the individual quarters of the previous year, even the most in the whole period of the survey. Sales in February and March particularly contributed to the marked increase of sales, when the growth reached almost 10%.
Sales increased dynamically in all of the observed size groups, the most in enterprises with 50 to 99 employees, the least in enterprises with 0 to 19 employees. The total growth was significantly contributed to by enterprises with 100+ employees, whose share in the total sales already reached more than 45% and in the non-specialised stores with food, beverages or tobacco predominating (includes all of the market chains) even more than 80%.
From the assortment types point of view, the total growth was mostly contributed to by non-specialised stores, among specialised stores, stores with furniture and other household goods had the biggest share, which affected the total growth by almost 27%.

Similarly as in the seven previous quarters, sales of non-food goods grew faster than food beverages or tobacco and their development in Q1 2007 even dynamically accelerated to the record breaking 11.8%. On the other hand, the growth of food beverages or tobacco (+4.7%) was similar to the previous quarters. Sales markedly increased (by more than 20%) in retail sale of textiles clothing and footwear and further retail sale of furniture, electrical and hardware goods. Following a drop, which lasted almost the whole of the last year, sales of pharmaceutical and medical goods, cosmetic and toilet articles increased since January 2007 (there could have been more types of influence, from an exceptionally seasonally shifted influenza epidemics to changes connected with amendments in the Decree of the Ministry of Health)

In retail sale of food, beverages or tobacco sales increased particularly in enterprises with 100+ employees (+5.8%), while groups with 20-49 and 50-99 employees recorded a drop (-1.1%, -4.8%, respectively).
Increasing sales in retail trade in the long-term, particularly in the non-food segment, were related among other things with the growing purchase power of the population, supported by relatively cheap and accessible bank credits. Another influence, supporting the population’s desire to purchase, was a permanent price drop of textiles, clothing and also furnishings and household equipment. The growth acceleration of sales was probably also caused by favourable weather enabling, also during the winter months, building and reconstruction of housing stock, which is connected with the purchase of construction materials and following its completion also the purchase of new household equipment. Last but not least, the sale growth in Q1 2007 was affected by the already mentioned sickness development and an increased purchase of drug products.


Hotels and restaurants (CZ-NACE 55)

In Q1 2007, seasonally adjusted sales in hotels and restaurants increased by 1.0% quarter-on-quarter at constant prices. This CZ-NACE division, since the VAT increase in May 2004, sow a different sales development compared to the rest of the Czech economy, because the projection of the increased VAT into prices initially decreased the demand and the trend component dropped. In 2005 the drop was replaced by stagnation and only last year the trend component started to grow again. In Q1 2007 it grew by 1.0% quarter-on-quarter.

Not seasonally adjusted sales in hotels and restaurants increased by 3.0% year-on-year at constant prices; growth was recorded in all of the months of Q1 2007. Restaurants had more than 80% share in the growth.

The sale growth in Q1 2007 was recorded in all of the size groups of hotels and restaurants; enterprises with 50-99 employees prospered the most with sales growing by 8.8%, while enterprises with 0-19 employees had a minimal growth (+0.8%).