Real sees 5% sales growth to 671m euros

Real hypermarkets posted 671 million euros in sales on the Romanian market, up 5% against the level reported in 2008, according to data published by the Metro group.

The chain’s RON-denominated sales rose by around 20%, amid Real’s expansion from 20 to 24 stores over the course of last year.

Metro reports its results in the International Accounting System (IAS), which explains the difference between the financial results of the German group and those in the profit and loss account published by the Ministry of Finance, with the latter being built based on standards of the Romanian Accounting System.

Sales of Real Hypermarket Romania amounted to 718 million euros in 2008, according to data from the Ministry of Finance, so, by adding the 5% reported by the company, sales can be put at around 750 million euros for last year.

The chain held by German-based Metro has thus remained the third largest player on the Romanian hypermarket segment, after Carrefour and Kaufland. Carrefour Romania reported 1.23 billion euros in sales in 2009, with the business of its hypermarket chain put at around one billion euros. Kaufland has yet to report 2009 results.