Nearly eight per cent for Kesko

After recording an increase of 6.6 per cent in December Kesko completed the year 2011 with sales growth of 7.9 per cent to € 2.7928 bn in its builders’ merchant and DIY division. The rate of growth in the home market of Finland amounted to 5.9 per cent for the full year (plus 3.0 per cent in December) based on a volume of € 1.264 bn. The group’s stores and investments in affiliated companies abroad contributed a share of € 1.5263 bn to the total, which means they experienced growth of 9.6 per cent in 2011. Growth in Russia alone came to 17.3 per cent.