Slight increase for Mr. Bricolage

Gross sales recorded by the Mr. Bricolage group in the first six months of 2006 rose by 0.85 per cent (0.8 per cent like-for-like) to € 850.3 mio. While the 429 Mr. Bricolage stores were able to notch up a like-for-like increase of 1.2 per cent for a total of € 786.3 mio, sales achieved by the Catena retail channel were 3.6 per cent down in like-for-like terms at € 63.5 mio. The Mr. Bricolage stores added 43 688 m² to their sales space by means of extensions and 14 new openings for an overall total of 1.520 mio m². In the case of the Catena stores, their sales space was up by 5 838 m² overall in the first six months due to three extensions and three new openings, resulting in a total of 108 471 m².