UK composite and services PMIs rise in April, beat flash estimates

(Alliance News) - The UK services and composite purchasing managers' indices moved further into growth territory in April, survey publisher S&P Global reported on Wednesday.

The headline seasonally adjusted services PMI business activity index rose to 52.7 points in April from 50.5 in March, slightly beating the flash estimate of 52.0 points.

Moving further above the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction, it "signalled a moderate expansion of service sector output," S&P Global said.

The seasonally adjusted PMI composite output index, meanwhile, increased to 52.6 points in April from 50.3 in March, showing a "moderate upturn" in output across the manufacturing and service sectors. The flash estimate was, again, for an improvement to 52.0 points.

"This reflected higher levels of manufacturing production and service sector activity in April," S&P Global said.

On Friday last week, S&P Global reported the UK manufacturing PMI improved to a 47-month high of 53.7 points in April from 51.0 in March, beating the flash reading of 53.6 points.

"April data signalled a modest recovery in UK service sector output growth after the considerable loss of momentum seen in March," commented S&P Global Market Intelligence Economics Director Tim Moore on Wednesday. "However, this improvement could easily prove short-lived as new business intakes remained subdued in comparison to the start of 2026.

"Survey respondents widely noted that the Middle East conflict and subsequent global supply chain disruptions had weighed heavily on business and consumer confidence. Business activity expectations for the year ahead edged up only slightly from March's nine-month low, largely reflecting concerns about the broader economic outlook and escalating inflationary pressures."

Moore continued: "Service providers recorded the fastest rise in average cost burdens since November 2022, which was overwhelmingly linked to greater transportation bills and increased salary payments.

"A number of firms also noted that they had brought in fuel surcharges for their customers, which led to a spike in prices charged inflation across the service economy to its highest for over three years in April."

S&P Global compiles the services PMI from survey responses by a panel of around 650 service sector companies in the UK. It collected last month's data between April 9 and 28.

The composite output index is a weighted average of the services business activity and manufacturing output indices.

By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter

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