Retail Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the Irish retail sector, today published the results of a special survey of member companies. The survey was done to assess the extent of improvement sentiment in the retail sector, and is based on responses from 129 retailers polled during the first week of May 2010. It shows a rise in sentiment following the recent increase in sales activity.

Commenting on the results, Retail Ireland director Torlach Denihan said: "The results of the Retail Ireland survey show an improvement in sentiment in the retail sector, but it is important to note that participating companies completed the survey before developments over the last two weeks involving Greece and the Eurozone.

"We did this special survey to assess the situation in view of developments such as the decline in cross border shopping and the slight but noticeable improvement in the consumer confidence index. Recently the CSO reported an increase in retail sales volumes in most categories but also that the value of sales is still well below that in 2009.

"Retailers' perceptions of the prospects for their own businesses are improving, expectations on sales are broadly static and a very slight increase in customer numbers is expected.

'Prices to the public have been cut substantially and every element in the retail supply chain has made a major contribution to this, with the exception of landlords. They locked in massive and unsustainable rents during the property boom . Every landlord should reduce rents on a voluntary basis in the interest of lower prices for the consumer, saving retail jobs and helping the country regain lost competitiveness. The biggest winners during the boom should now step up to the plate," concluded Denihan.

Key findings:

Business Climate: Almost one third (30%) of respondents rate their own business currently as poor or very poor, half (51%) rate it as average and 18% rate it as good.

Business Outlook: One-third (33%) of respondents rate the prospects for their business over the next three months (May-July) as poor or very poor, just over half (55%) rate it as average and 12% rate it as good for this period.

Confidence: One-third (32%) of respondents are more confident about their business than they were three months ago, one sixth (16%) are less confident and half (52%) of respondents report similar levels of confidence.

Sales Outlook: Almost one-third (30%) of retailers expect sales to decrease over the next three months (May-July), half (49%) expect sales to stay the same and one fifth (21%) expect sales to increase slightly during this period.

Customer Numbers: Almost one-third of respondents (31%) expect slightly more customers in the next three months (May-July), half (50%) predict static customer numbers and almost one fifth (19%) predict slightly fewer customers in the next three months.

Profitability: Almost one third (30%) of respondents expect the profitability of their businesses to decrease over the next three months (May-July), half (49%) expect it to stay the same and almost one fifth (18%) expect a slight increase

Employee Numbers: One fifth (21%) of respondents expect employee numbers to decline in the next three months (May-July) while two thirds (67%) expect employee numbers to remain static.

Lay-Offs: One tenth (9%) of respondents plan to implement lay-offs over the next three months (May-July) while a further fifth (21%) have the matter under active consideration.

Recruitment: Three quarters (76%) of respondents expect a recruitment freeze in their companies during the next three months (May-July).

Retraining: Over half (55%) of respondents plan to retrain existing staff over the next 3 months (May-July)and a further 15% have the matter under active consideration.