Drop in sales for Kesko DIY division

Sales by the home improvement and specialist retail division of the Kesko Group in Finland came to € 722 mio in the first quarter of this year, 5.2 per cent down on the same period in the previous year. The biggest single item was the € 280 mio contributed by Rautakesko Finland, 3.5 per cent less than in the same quarter in the previous year. Sales were down in the DIY division also at the Byggmakker chain in Norway (-3.3 per cent to € 97 mio) and at K-rauta in Russia, which recorded a 21.0 per cent drop to € 39 mio.