Finnish retailer Kesko has reported a 3.8% year-on-year decline in sales in comparable terms, to €964.4 million, in April.
The grocery trade unit reported a 2.5% increase in sales, to €508.9 million, in this period.
Grocery sales to K Group grocery stores increased by 1.0% year-on-year, the company noted. K-Citymarket’s home and speciality goods (non-food) section saw an increase in sales.
K Group’s food service arm Kespro saw sales growth of 8.0% in this period.
Mikko Helander, president and CEO of Kesko said, "Sales in grocery trade were negatively impacted by the timing of Easter deliveries, which partly took place in March. In building and technical trade, sales decreased as construction activity declined.
"In addition, sales in both grocery trade and building and technical trade were negatively impacted by April having one delivery day less this year than the year before."
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Other Departments
The company's building and technical trade division generated sales worth €344.7 million, down 18.3% in comparable terms in local currencies.
Elsewhere, sales in the building and home improvement trade decreased by 25.2% in comparable terms.
In comparable terms, sales declined by 19.7% in Finland, 23.2% in Sweden, and 15.1% in Norway.
Reported sales in the building and technical trade division decreased by 17.3%, the company noted.
Sales in the car trade division amounted to €112.8 million in April, registering an increase of 28.7% year-on-year.
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© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
