Positive first quarter

For the first quarter of 2004 Rautakesko has announced an 8.4 per cent increase in sales to € 273.3 mio. The increase recorded by the K-Rauta and Rautia stores in Finland came to 5.1 per cent over the same period the year before. The sales figure here was € 185 mio. In the other countries (Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) the group achieved an increase of 16.1 per cent to € 88.3 mio.