Growth of more than four per cent for Ace

Ace Hardware, the globally operating American cooperative, increased its distribution sales in the third quarter by 4.2 per cent to US $ 949.9 mio. The figures include a rise of 8.8 per cent for sales with dealers outside the USA; this growth comes principally from the Caribbean and Asia. Within America itself the central office increased sales with stores by 3.0 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Altogether central distribution sales rose by 5.1 per cent to US $ 2.9 bn in the first three quarters.