LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) – British business sentiment edged up in May and is now close to its level before the Iran war, according to a monthly survey by Lloyds on Friday which contrasted with most other measures of business and consumer sentiment.
“Businesses in May were more optimistic about their own trading prospects, with two thirds expecting stronger output over the year ahead,” said Hann-Ju Ho, a senior economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking.
Following are other points from the report and broader context:
• Business confidence rose 3 points in May to +47, close to its 12-month average of +48 and above the long-run average of +30 since the survey began in 2002
• Businesses’ confidence in their own trading outlook rose 4 points to +58
• Confidence in the wider economy rose 2 points to +35
• Rising inflation and cost pressures, economic uncertainty and weaker customer demand were the main negative factors
• Confidence among construction firms showed a 15-point jump to +44 in May, close to its 12-month average
• Retail improved 8 points to +53, services were unchanged at +45 and manufacturing fell 4 points to +43
• Previously released preliminary PMI data for UK businesses fell to the lowest in more than a year in May
• Lloyds’ data was based on online polling by Ipsos of 1,200 companies with annual sales of at least £250,000 ($336,000), conducted from April 30 to May 18
($1 = 0.7440 pounds)
(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by William Schomberg)
