STOCKHOLM, Sweden, March 6, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Axfood AB today announced sales for the Jan.-Feb. 2002 period.
Consolidated net sales* (excluding VAT) for the month of February totalled SEK 2,471 m (2,376), an increase of 4.0% compared with the same period a year ago.
Net sales for the period January-February 2002 totalled SEK 5,086 m (4,844), an increase of 5.0%. For stores owned by the Group, the increase was 15.7% in Sweden, of which same stores accounted for 6.9%. Of total sales, the Swedish operations accounted for SEK 4,264 m (4,023) and Spar Finland for SEK 822 m (821).
Hemkop grew its sales by 1.8%. The decrease for same stores was 0.6%. Willy's grew its sales by 33.8%, of which same stores accounted for 16.2 percentage points. Willys Hemma grew its sales by 1.2%. The decrease for same stores was 1.5%. Spar Finland grew its sales by 0.1% and in local currency a decrease by 3.2%. For comparable stores owned by the Group the decrease was 2.6%.
Sales per business operation are broken down as follows:
Jan-Feb Jan-Feb
2002 2001 %
SEK m. SEK m. Change
Hemkop 1,037 1,019 1.8%
Willy's 1,222 913 33.8%
Willy's Hemma 163 161 1.2%
Spar Finland 822 821 0.1%
Axfood wholesaling 3,235 2,699 19.9%
Other(a) 317 385 -17.7%
Internal sales -1,710 1,154 48.2%
Total 5,086 4,844 5.0%
(a) Includes Axfood Direkt, Axfood Franchise, support companies and joint-Group functions.
Preliminary sales figures will be presented on the following dates:
March 25th of April (Quarterly report) April 7th of May May 6th of June June 1st of August (Interim report) August 5th of September September 23rd of October (Quarterly report) October 6th of November November 5th of December
Axfood AB is one of the largest listed food wholesale are retail companies in the Nordic market. The company conducts wholesale and retail trading under a number of brand names such a Hemkop, Willy's, Willy's Hemma, Spar, Vivo and Tempo. Consolidated annual sales are estimated at approximately SEK 30 billion, with approximately 8,500 full-year employees.
The Axfood Group has approximately 700 stores in Sweden, of which 250 are wholly or partly owned. The remainder are run by independent merchants tied to the company through agreements. Axfood has some 300 stores in Finland, of which 80 are wholly owned and the remainder operated by independent merchants. The market share is nearly 20 per cent in Sweden and approximately 10 per cent in Finland.
Axfood AB is listed on the A-list of the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Axel Johnson AB is the principal owner, with approximately 45 per cent of the shares.
* The figures are preliminary, definite figures will currently be presented at www.axfood.se/finans under Financial statistics
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