Successful start to a new year

The Praktiker Group was able to increase group sales in the first quarter of 2007 by 22.3 per cent to € 877.5 mio. According to information provided by the company, around three-quarters of this growth reflects the integration of the operational business of Max Bahr, which has been fully consolidated since 1 February 2007. Praktiker realised € 757.8 mio excluding Max Bahr, which amounts to an increase of 5.6 per cent (4.6 per cent like-for-like) on the same quarter last year. This percentage growth is due to the group's international stores, which generated a sales increase of 31 per cent for a total of € 206.5 mio (19.3 per cent like-for-like). By contrast, sales in Germany fell by 1.6 per cent to € 551.3 mio (+0.2 per cent like-for-like). When Max Bahr is added in, the Praktiker Group in Germany realised € 671.0 mio, amounting to an increase of 19.8 per cent.