Clas Ohlson sales development in March

Sales rose 6%  in March to SEK 399 M (376). In local currencies, sales increased 10%. Compared with the same month in 2010, 22 stores have been added and the total number of stores on March 31 2011 was 139. Mail order/Internet sales during the month was SEK 7 M (7).

Sales channels (SEK M):

                                                 Percentage       Percentage change,
Countries                                        change:             local currency:

Sweden                193  (183)               + 5%            + 5%

Norway                 160  (153)               + 4%          + 11%

Finland                   30    (30)               + 0%          + 10%

UK                         16    (10)             + 57%          + 65%

Total sales during the first eleven months (May 2010 - March 2011) increased by 5% to SEK 5,446 M (5,209).

The Q4-report for 2010/11 will be published on June 9 2011.

For more information please contact:

Klas Balkow, CEO and President: +46 (0)247-447 55

John Womack, Director Information & IR: +46 (0)70-678 24 99

Clas Ohlson AB is a Swedish chain store that sells, amongst other things, hardware, electrical, multimedia, and home and leisure products. It is the largest hardware chain in Scandinavia. The company was founded in 1918 by the technically-minded Clas Ohlson (1895–1979), as a mail order business based in the Swedish village of Insjön, Dalarna. Initially, only manuals and technical literature were sold. He opened his first shop in Insjön in 1926 and there are now stores throughout Sweden, as well as in Norway and Finland. In 2008, the company opened its first store in the United Kingdom, in Croydon, south London. There are now stores at the Arndale Centre in Manchester, at The Harlequin in Watford, in Kingston upon Thames, Reading, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster and Norwich.

Tags: