Baumax slightly up

Baumax, the Austrian DIY retail group, has increased sales in the first nine months of 2003 over the same period last year by 2.9 per cent to € 692.5 mio. Austria, where the group currently operates 70 outlets, accounted for € 383.1 mio of the total. The Baumax stores in Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia achieved sales of € 309.4 mio. The group is aiming for sales of € 915 mio for the year as a whole, which would amount to an increase of four per cent.