Expansion is accelerated

Baumax increased its sales by 5.1 per cent to € 1.1 bn last year. In Austria, annual sales amounted to € 550 mio, equivalent to a rise of 3.4 per cent.  Baumax has a total of 68 sites in all regional districts of Austria.  And the DIY store and garden centre operator is growing even more strongly in the countries in central and south-east Europe that it has targeted for expansion than it is at home. In Croatia, for example, sales were up 16.2 per cent. Baumax's expansion countries currently account for 48 per cent of the company's sales. Baumax is proud of the fact that customer frequency in stores in all countries has increased by a total of 6.6 percent to 36.8 mio.This year, the company is aiming to grow by 7 percent and to increase its number of outlets from 122 to 126. Over the next five years, Baumax is determined to expand markedly in Austria and central and south-east Europe, with 184 Baumax stores in at least eight countries envisaged for 2010. The DIY store and garden centre operator is planning to enter the Romanian market this year, with three new stores each covering 9  000 m² opening in the cities of Cluj, Brasov and Sibiu. Next year Baumax intends to move into the Bulgarian market. In addition to these ventures, the waters are being tested in areas for further expansion, for example Turkey, the Ukraine and Serbia-Montenegro. According to KR Martin Essl, chairman of the board of Baumax AG, this expansion offensive has been made possible by consolidation of the company in the last few years and the wide range of optimisation measures applied in positioning. Against this background, Baumax aims to achieve sales of € 2 bn by 2010. Compared with the results for 2004, this would mean doubling sales, 67 per cent of which would then be achieved in the expansion countries.  In April last year, Baumax opened a new Mega-Baumax in Vienna 23, at the same time closing its store in Vienna 12 and enlarging the store in Klosterneuburg. Further expansions are in the offing in July for the store in Vienna Neustadt and in July/August in Rankweil. In autumn, the construction of two new stores will commence in Wels and Dornbirn, with both stores expected to open in 2007. The existing site in Villach-Süd is to be enlarged and converted to a Mega-Baumax store. In the Czech Republic, Baumax's largest foreign market comprising 23 stores, the company achieved sales in excess of € 200 mio. Extensions to the stores in Plzen and Olomouc are scheduled for this year. In the…