Axfood's sales January-December 2003

Axfood's sales January-December 2003 Net sales* (excluding VAT) for stores in Sweden owned by the Group, increased by 11.7% for the month of December, of which same-stores increased by 3.9%. Consolidated net sales for December totalled SEK 3,100 m (2,988), an increase by 3,7% compared with the same period a year ago. Under the period January-December 2003 the increase was 13.6% for stores in Sweden owned by the Group, of which same-stores increased by 3.3%. Consolidated net sales totalled SEK 33,616 m (33,115), an increase of 1.5%. Of total sales, the Swedish operations accounted for SEK 28,438 m (27,578) and Spar Finland for SEK 5,178 m (5,537). Hemköp's sales decreased by 4.4% during the month, of which same-stores decreased by 0.6%. Accumulated sales decreased by 3.5%, of which same-stores increased by 1.4%. Willys grew its sales by 25.0% during the month, of which same-stores increased by 8.0%. Accumulated sales increased by 25.8%, of which same-stores increased by 4.0%. Willys hemma grew its sales by 9.7% during the month, of which same-stores increased by 2.9%. Accumulated sales increased by 18.9%, of which same-stores increased by 0.1%. Spar Finland's sales increased by 0.7% and in local currency a decrease by 0.1%. Accumulated sales fell by 6.5%, and in local currency a decrease by 6.1%. For stores owned by the Group the increase in local currency was 2.0%, of which same-stores remained unchanged from the year before. For stores owned by the Group accumulated sales in local currency decreased by 6,8% of which same-stores decreased by 7.0%. Axfood AB bedriver detaljhandel med de helägda butikskedjorna Hemköp, Willys och Willys hemma samt partihandel inom Dagab och Axfood Närlivs. Därutöver samverkar Axfood med ett stort antal fristående handlare knutna till Axfood av franchise eller andra avtal. Totalt omfattar bolaget omkring 500 butiker i Sverige, varav 220 är hel- eller delägda. Den konsoliderade årsomsättningen beräknas till cirka 33 miljarder kr. Antalet anställda är omkring 8 300. Axfood har cirka 290 butiker i Finland, varav 80 är helägda och övriga drivs av fristående handlare. Marknadsandelen i Sverige är 18 procent och i Finland cirka 8 procent vilket gör Axfood till ett av Nordens största börsnoterade bolag inom dagligvaruhandeln. Bolaget är noterat på Stockholmsbörsens O-lista, Attract 40. Huvudägare är Axel Johnson AB med cirka 45 procent av aktierna. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/01/29/20040129BIT20750/wkr0006.pdf The full release in pdf