Trend reversal in Germany alone

Following nine quarters of falling sales the German Praktiker group of companies has recorded some sales growth again for the first time in the first quarter of 2012. Sales rose by 3.7 per cent to € 507.8 mio. Praktiker, the main sales channel, saw growth of 1.6 per cent to € 319.9 mio, while the Max Bahr line recorded sales of € 167.3 mio, or 7.1 per cent more than in the comparable period last year.However, total sales of € 663.0 mio for the group as a whole translate into a drop of 0.5 per cent because the international business was very much in decline. The figure of € 155.2 mio remained 12.1 per cent below last year’s corresponding level. There were sales declines in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Hungary. Sales in the local currency in Luxembourg and Poland were on last year’s level. Only in Ukraine did the company record an increase. Overall the effects of exchange rates accounted for four percentage points of the shortfall.