S.Korea Dec dept, discount store sales fall at fastest pace in 4 mths

Hyundai Department Store Co

27/01/2016 02:00

SEOUL, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Sales at South Korea's top 
department stores snapped three months of rises in December and 
marked their biggest annual fall in four months due to warmer 
weather compared with the previous year, government figures 
showed on Wednesday. 
    Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai 
Department Store  069960.KS , Lotte Shopping  023530.KS  and 
Shinsegae Co  004170.LS  fell 5.7 percent on-year, finalised 
data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed on 
Tuesday. 
    This compared with a rise of 1.0 percent in November and was 
worse than a 3.8 percent decline estimated by the finance 
ministry. December's drop was the biggest since a 6.5 percent 
fall in August last year. 
    Warmer weather resulted in poor apparel sales as customers 
bought less winter clothes, the trade ministry said. High-end 
watches, jewellery and household electronics sales capped the 
decline. 
    The average temperature in Seoul was 1.6 degrees Celsius 
(34.88°F) in December, compared to an average negative 2.9 
degrees a year prior. 
    The same data showed annual sales at South Korea's major 
discount stores fell 5.1 percent in December in their third 
straight month of declines and the biggest fall since August. 
    It was worse than a 2.1 percent fall estimated previously. 
    Discount store sales also suffered from warm weather as well 
as softened demand for food products, the trade ministry said. 
    On a whole for 2015, sales at department stores and discount 
stores fell 1.2 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, mainly 
due to an outbreak of a deadly virus in the middle of the year 
and surging online shopping, according to the ministry. 
    The trade ministry data came a day after fourth-quarter GDP 
slowed by more than half from the third quarter of 2015, as 
growth from private consumption was offset by poor construction 
investment.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1562M9 
 
 (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Stephen Coates) 
 ((christine.kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5665; Reuters 
Messaging: christine.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA ECONOMY/RETAIL