Rebound in spending during August

Rebound in spending during August

Figures released today show a bounce back in national spending across the Paymark network just in time for spring.

Paymark, which processes about 75 per cent of all electronic transactions in New Zealand, reported a solid annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent in August.

Paymark CEO, Simon Tong, said the recovery is a step in the right direction after a tough winter for retailers.

“It’s encouraging to see spending on the rise again. Overall it’s been a quiet winter, with the spending growth rate between June and August sitting at a modest 3.8 per cent,” said Tong.

Many regions in the South Island experienced particularly strong annual growth in August, with Southland (+9.8%), West Coast (+9.7%) and Canterbury (+9.4%) recording the strongest increases.

“Although it appears these regions have recorded high spending increases, it’s important to note that all experienced a fall in spending during mid August 2011, due to extreme weather conditions,” added Tong.

“However, it’s still encouraging to see that these areas have been recording above average spending growth over the past quarter. For Canterbury especially, the growth may indicate signs of a continued recovery.”

In terms of growth sectors, stores linked to the building industry continued to show strong growth,with spending up 9.7 per cent August-to-August in hardware stores. Cafes and restaurants also recovered strongly after a drop in spending during the month of July, with card spending up 8.8 per cent August-to-August.

Clothing (+5.3%) and footwear (+7.2%) stores also recorded moderately higher year-on-year spending.

In contrast, spending is below the pre-Rugby World Cup inflated levels of 2011 with Paymark reporting a drop in spending during August amongst accommodation providers (-5.5%).

Nationwide, during August, the number of monthly card transactions was 5.9 per cent higher than a year ago, with credit card transactions (+6.0%) increasing slightly faster than debit cards (+5.8%).

PAYMARK Regional Data (August 2012 versus same month 2011)
Volume (million transactions) Value of spending ($millions)
Region Last Year Current Year Volume Difference Last Year Current Year Value Difference
Auckland/Northland 29.77 31.30 5.2% $1,451.5 $1,524.4 5.0%
Waikato 5.38 5.75 6.8% $253.4 $271.2 7.0%
BOP 4.57 4.74 3.7% $223.1 $231.6 3.8%
Gisborne 0.69 0.71 2.8% $31.0 $31.7 2.2%
Taranaki/Taupo 1.75 1.86 6.0% $82.6 $87.1 5.4%
Hawkes Bay 2.03 2.11 4.0% $94.5 $99.4 5.1%
Wanganui 0.89 0.90 1.1% $39.0 $38.8 -0.5%
Palmerston North 2.39 2.47 3.3% $117.6 $124.5 5.9%
Wairarapa 0.68 0.72 5.6% $31.5 $33.5 6.3%
Wellington 8.26 8.75 6.0% $372.8 $385.2 3.3%
Nelson 1.35 1.40 4.0% $67.9 $71.0 4.6%
Marlborough 0.73 0.75 2.2% $35.7 $36.6 2.5%
West Coast 0.45 0.49 9.0% $24.5 $26.8 9.7%
Canterbury 7.79 8.64 10.8% $386.7 $423.2 9.4%
South Canterbury 1.15 1.22 6.2% $61.2 $66.5 8.7%
Otago 4.14 4.36 5.1% $202.3 $214.0 5.8%
Southland 1.59 1.77 10.9% $82.9 $91.1 9.8%
New Zealand 73.63 77.94 5.9% $3,593.0 $3,789.1 5.5%
(growth rate this time last year) 2.6% 4.1%

ENDS

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