Growth from and in the East

The Austrian DIY chain, Baumax, completed the first six months of the year 2003 with gross sales increased by 2.4 per cent over the same period last year, resulting in a total of € 446.5 mio. The Austrian market accounted for € 254.1 mio of this figure, which indicates a growth rate of 1.3 per cent. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Croatia the Austrian group notched up sales of € 192.3 mio, which is 3.8 per cent higher than the comparable period last year. The company still had a sales deficit in the first quarter. Baumax has ambitious plans for Croatia: five new stores are to be opened by the end of 2004, following the assessment of the results produced by the trial store in Varazdin as “extremely successful”.