UK consumer sentiment holds steady in April - GfK

Consumer confidence in the UK held steady in April - albeit in negative territory - despite Brexit-related uncertainty, according to the latest survey from GfK.

GfK's long-running consumer confidence index came in at -13 this month, unchanged from March.

However, householders became somewhat less optimism about their personal finances, with the index for the personal financial situation over the next 12 months down to zero in April from 2 in March.

In addition, the savings index declined eight points from March to 12 in April, representing the biggest monthly drop in the savings measure since after the Brexit referendum in June 2016.

On the upside, the measure for the general economic situation over the next 12 months improved a touch to -34 from -36 in March.

Joe Staton, client strategy director at Gfk, said: "We reported a -13 headline for the past three months and it appears it’s a case of ‘Keep Calm’ when it comes to how confident consumers are feeling right now.

"Despite political carry-on in the Westminster bubble with the clock ticking on Britain’s eventual departure from the EU, consumers are holding firm and remain unshaken by the daily headlines of turmoil and intrigue, although we remain in negative territory. This month we are reporting a dip in the measures for our personal financial situation looking back a year and ahead to the coming year but this is balanced by a small increase in our perspective on the state of the UK economy."

Shore Capital said the flat reading suggests "a stubborn resilience of the British consumer against the political media frenzy from Westminster".

"As noted previously, we have seen UK living standards continue to rise with wage inflation outstripping price inflation, which has resulted in consumers having more disposal income to spend.

"However, the GfK consumer confidence index does not share the same views and is reflected by the unmoved index. As political developments continue, we expect consumers to remain more focused on their own personal financial situation, including savings, offsetting a positive movement in the overall index."