Sales up in DIY business

Net sales for the Hagebaumarkt distribution channel (292 stores) of German building materials and DIY store cooperative Hagebau were up 0.9 per cent in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. Centrally invoiced sales declined by 0.8 per cent to € 901.7 mio for the group as a whole and by 1.1 per cent to € 860.3 mio in Germany. This was due to the 6.8 per cent drop in the building materials trade in Germany. Hagebau has 1 341 outlets in all (up 144), comprising 1 091 stores in Germany and 151 in Austria. In Switzerland the cooperative has 89 stores, while in Luxembourg it operates ten.