Finland's Kesko Group has reported a 5.4% increase in sales in its grocery trade division, to €581.1 million, in June.
Grocery sales to K-food stores increased by 5.1%, while sales in K-Citymarket's home and speciality goods trade remained at the previous year's level.
Kespro, K Group’s food service arm, saw sales increase by 7.3% in this period.
Overall, Kesko's sales increased by 1.3% year-on-year in June, to €1.1 billion.
In May, its grocery sales amounted to €553.4 million, up 7.2% compared to the same period last year, while group sales grew by 1.5%.
According to K Group's April K-Barometer survey, around 28% of customers in Finland are opting for unhealthier food than before due to higher prices, including more than a third (36%) of families with children.
Other Divisions
The company's building and technical trade division generated sales worth €412.7 million in June, down 10.6% in comparable local currencies.
Sales in the building and home improvement trade fell by 15.9% on a comparable basis.
In Finland, comparable sales decreased by 11.7%, while Sweden and Norway saw a 21.1% and 4.9% decline, respectively.
Sales in the car trade division amounted to €110.0 million in June and increased by 19.0%, Kesko added.
On a like-for-like basis, sales in car trade increased by 27.7% as deliveries of new cars increased significantly from the previous year.
In June, the number of new passenger cars and vans registered in Finland was 23.9%, up 29.9% compared to the previous year.
Unit sales of used passenger cars in the Finnish car trade increased by 3.7% compared to the previous year, while sales of sports cars fell by 18.7%, the company added.
