Poor quarter

The Canadian Rona Group increased the retail sales of its own stores and franchise locations to C $ 683 mio (€ 440 mio) in the first quarter of 2008, an increase of 6.4 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year. However, comparable store sales declined by 5.2 per cent and operating income (EBITDA) fell by 22.3 per cent to C $ 19.27 mio (€ 12.42 mio). Including the wholesale segment, Rona’s sales in the first quarter were C $ 911.5 mio (€ 587.4 mio), equivalent to growth of 3.8 per cent. EBITDA fell by 18.2 per cent to C $ 33.4 mio (€ 21.5 mio).