Strong growth abroad

Rautakesko (Finland) recorded a turnover of € 1.634 bn in the 2005 financial year. This amounts to growth of 39.3 per cent over the previous year. In Finland the company's turnover came to € 805.8 mio, which amounts to an increase of 7 per cent, and turnover in the other countries was up by 97.1 per cent to € 828.4 mio. The strong growth of sales abroad is attributable to the acquisition of the Norwegian Norgros group and the Russian DIY retail chain Stroymaster in July 2005.