Kesko in the red in August

Sales of the DIY retail and builders’ merchant division of the Finnish Kesko Group came to € 249.8 mio in August 2013, or 9 per cent below the corresponding figure for last year. Sales in Finland fell by 4.2 per cent to € 107.7 mio compared with the same period last year. The company reported sales of just € 142.1 mio abroad, amounting to a deficit of 12.3 per cent. A minus of 4.0 per cent remains for the company’s international business if Norway, where the number of Byggmakker stores belonging to the group was reduced from 106 to 89 at the beginning of the year, is removed from the equation.