Russian subsidiary above target

Marktkauf Rus, the Russian subsidiary of the German trading group AVA, has exceeded its target by € eight mio since the opening on 6 February 2003 of a shopping centre in Moscow. The company operates 148 DIY stores in Germany. Last year saw the DIY division increase sales by 0.3 per cent compared to 2002. The entire group of companies recorded a 2.7 per cent rise in trading volume to approximately € 5.6 bn. The marketing companies together generated € 5.5 bn of the total, which means they sold 2.4 per cent more than the previous year.