DIY stores clearly better than specialist trade

The German Baywa AG achieved group sales of close to € 7.3 bn in the 2007 trading year, which indicates an operational increase of 1.3 per cent. Total sales in the building segment amounted to € 1.68 bn. This means that it was five per cent below the previous year’s figure, taking into account the streamlining process in Austria. Building materials sales made to Austrian cooperatives are no longer invoiced through RWA, the Viennese subsidiary of Baywa, but directly through the warehouses (previous year: € 167 mio). At € 1.2 bn the builders’ merchant trade sold 8.4 per cent less than the previous year. The group’s DIY and garden stores performed better, achieving a 5.9 per cent sales increase for a total of € 443 mio.