Altex makes 60m euros in Q1

Electronics and home appliances retailer Altex has announced sales of more than 60 million euros (including VAT) for the first quarter of this year. “The second quarter of the year will mean maintaining the current level of sales, with no spectacular increases nor declines. As a result, we plan to achieve a sales volume of over 130 million euros for the first half, which is more than for the whole of 2003,” said Dan Ostahie, Altex chairman. Approximately 70% of Altex”s sales were made through lending systems. The sales made by the retailer in the first quarter benefited from the particular dynamic of the market, company officials say, which was caused by legislative changes, such as the increase in excise duties for digital cameras in effect as of April 1, the flat income tax and the reintroduction of excise duties for a number of product categories including air conditioning units and microwave ovens. Air conditioning and refrigerator equipment, the best selling products in the spring-summer season, are the main product families that will drive Altex sales over the coming months. Altex announced it would be launching its own consumer finance company by the end of the month with a share capital of 20 million euros. ZF