Great satisfaction with the sales trend over the first five months of this year was evident at a meeting of Hagebau partners: the figures revealed an overall increase of 14.7 per cent (Germany: +19.1 per cent) to ? 1.659 bn. The Hagebaumarkt DIY stores succeeded in increasing their sales over the same period by 6.7 per cent. During the course of the event Walter Elbe, a co-opted member of the supervisory board from Austria, spoke of a "Thanksgiving Day for Hagebau".