Bricostore shops in Romania bring British retailer Kingfisher EUR 42 mln sales in third quarter

British multinational retailer Kingfisher recorded total sales of GBP 35 million (or some EUR 42 million) in Romania in the third quarter of the year, after acquiring 15 Bricostore units in the country in the second quarter. “Bricostore Romania , in its first full quarter of trading since acquisition, contributed sales of GBP 35 millionand retail profit of GBP 1 million,” reads the company’s statement. Kingfisher has over 1,200 employees in Romania. The data for Kingfisher’s operations in Romania, China, Russia and Turkey refer to the period between July and September. At a group level, the company’s total sales went up 8 percent in the third quarter, to GPB 2.9 billion, while the retail profit was GBP 271 million. In April this year, Kingfisher announced that it had acquired Bricostore’s 15 home improvement stores in Romania from Group Bresson, for which it paid GBP 35 million. The stores in Romania will be converted into the Brico Dépôt format and the company plans to grow the business to around 50 stores in the long-term. Bricostore Romania recorded sales of EUR 131 million in 2012 and EBITDA of EUR 5 million. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-inisder.com