Hefty increase for Rautakesko

Rautakesko of Finland succeeded in completing the first six months of 2006 with a net increase of 59.1 per cent to € 1.0 bn. The two chains acquired in July 2005, Norgros in Norway and Stroymaster in Russia, made a 47.2 per cent contribution to the company's net sales. The international share of sales amounted to 58.3 per cent. Rautakesko achieved net sales of € 572.4 mio in the second quarter, which comes to growth of 58.9 per cent on the same period last year. Sales of € 230 mio were recorded in Finland, or 2.4 per cent more than the same period last year. Earnings rose by 20.4 per cent in the first six months to € 40.5 mio. Earnings growth of 15.9 per cent to € 31.7 mio was revealed for the second quarter.