Figures down

Homebase, the British DIY multiple, recorded sales of £ 1.562 bn, or one per cent down on the previous year's result, for the 2005/2006 financial year to 28 February. Sales went down by 4 per cent in like-for-like terms. EBIT slipped 54 per cent to £ 51.8 mio. According to information from Homebase, the company has succeeded in winning additional market shares, even though the price campaign failed to bring the hoped-for sales increase, specially in the second half of the year. Kitchens and furniture recorded double-digit sales growth, which was partly attributed to the launch of a Furniture Extra catalogue in December 2005. Following a total of ten new openings, the company had 297 stores at the end of the year, 114 of them with a mezzanine floor.