Market growth in Germany

At the end of the first three quarters of the current financial year BHB, the federal association of German DIY, building and garden stores, has announced that DIY sector sales in Germany have experienced an increase. At a total of € 13.2 bn, the sales volume shows a rise of 3.5 per cent over January to September 2002. This comes to an increase of 2.5 per cent like-for-like. John W. Herbert, BHB president, points out that the growth in the third quarter, however, can be traced solely to the various price-cutting campaigns over this period. For the year as a whole the association expects a like-for-like increase of 2.5 per cent.