Breakfast briefing: Retail news on UK shop prices and Pandora's third quarter

Fall in UK shop prices slows in October

UK high street prices fell at a slower pace in October signalling a potential rise in prices early next year, Reuters reported.

Shop prices fell 1.7% in October, compared with a 1.8% drop in September, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

According to figures from the BRC, food prices overall in October was 1.2% lower compared with a year ago.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “It is inevitable that imported inflation will begin to make its mark and we would expect to start to see this effect coming through in the first quarter of 2017.”

Pandora posts higher third quarter profit

Pandora has posted a 40% rise in net profit to DKK 1.41bn (£169.74m) in the three months to September.

The jeweller said revenue rose 18% to DKK 4.61bn and operating margin rose 37.3% compared with 34.2% a year earlier.

Pandora's revenue in the UK increased 16%. However, owing to the devaluation of the sterling it reported a revenue drop of 3%.

The retailer plans to continue expanding its store network by adding more than 325 new concept stores during 2016.