March 3 - K-food stores' grocery sales increased by 6.8% in 2007, compared with the overall growth of 5.2% in the sector. K-food stores' comparable sales growth of 5.2% exceeded the performance of the main competitors. According to the store register published today by the Nielsen research company, K-food stores' market share increased by 0.5 percentage points to 33.9% last year.
"Three years ago, the most important target set by Kesko's Board of Directors was turning the long downhill of K-food stores into a rise.
The definitions made then have proved right. I am sure that the positive development will continue," says Matti Halmesmäki, Kesko's President and CEO.
"Customers value local products, good food solutions, wide selections and low prices. Improvements in efficiency have resulted in better price competitiveness. K-retailers have succeeded in delivering the customer promise, and the progress of the K-Plussa supercard has exceeded the expectations," says Terho Kalliokoski, Kesko Food's President.
Very large investments will be made in the store network over the next few years. Currently, there are nine K-citymarkets and ten K-supermarkets under construction. New K-markets will also be built and current K-markets will be renovated.
According to Nielsen, the grocery sales totalled €13,046 million last year, representing an increase of 5.2%. At the end of the year, there were 3,922 grocery stores in Finland, of which 1,041 were K-food stores.
Further information:
Kesko is a Finnish retail specialist whose stores offer quality to the daily lives of consumers through valued products and services at competitive prices. Kesko has about 2,000 stores engaged in chain operations in the Nordic and Baltic countries, and Russia.