S Group's total non-consolidated profit before extraordinary items and taxes was EUR 60.6 million, whereas the profit for the corresponding period last year was EUR 87.2 million. SOK Corporation's profit before taxes in the first half of the year was EUR 4.0 million, coming down from the EUR 7.1 million of the corresponding period last year.

S Group's retail sales (VAT 0%) amounted to EUR 5,526.3 million in January–June. The figure shows an increase of 1.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The retail sales of the regional cooperative enterprises increased by 0.6 per cent compared to the corresponding period last year, totaling EUR 5,065.6 million. The cooperative enterprises' proportion of S Group's sales was 91.8 per cent, and 8.2 per cent of SOK Corporation's sales.

"Considering the general economic situation, the first half of the year was reasonably good for the S Group. The recession was, of course, felt throughout the operations of S Group, but developments such as the slight increase in grocery trade and the mild sales decrease in other businesses mean that compared to the general trends in these fields, we have done well," says CEO Kuisma Niemelä of SOK.

S Group's capital expenditure in January–June was EUR 365 million. In the corresponding period last year, capital expenditure was EUR 290 million.

The total number of units was reduced by 49 from the beginning of the year to 1,648.

S Group's retail sales by business area, 1 January – 30 June 2013 (VAT 0%)

1 January – 30 June 2013

1 April – 30 June 2013

EUR million

Change, %

EUR million

Change, %

Supermarket trade**

3,780.0

3.9

 1,997.9

4.0

Service station store and fuel sales

885.8

-0.3

471.7

-0.6

Department stores and speciality stores

152.5

-6.0

76.4

-4.3

Travel industry and hospitality business**

378.7

-2.3

197.1

-0.7

Automotive trade and accessories

236.2

-17.5

115.9

8.4

Agricultural trade*

87.3

5.0

50.9

0.1

Others

5.8

11.6

3.2

13.0

S Group total**

5,526.3

1.4

2,913.1

2.8

* The figures for Hankkija-Maatalous Group have been excluded from the agricultural trade total.

** including retail sales in the neighbouring areas (the Baltic countries and St. Petersburg)

Supermarket trade

S Group's supermarket trade sales increased by 3.9 per cent in January–June. This figure includes the grocery and consumer goods sales of Prisma, S-Market, Sale and Alepa stores, and Kodin Terra and S-Rauta hardware stores, as well as the grocery and consumer goods sales at other supermarket trade units.

When considered separately, S Group's grocery sales grew by 4.5 per cent, totaling EUR 3,404.5 million. The consumer goods trade, on the other hand, decreased by 1.7 per cent, totaling EUR 648.4 million.

The number of supermarket outlets increased by 14 stores in January–June, bringing the total number to 931 at the end of June. In Finland, the biggest increase took place in the Sale retail chain.

Service station store and fuel sales

Service station store and fuel trade sales decreased by 0.3% during the first half of the year. At the end of June, there were 232 outlets (430, including all S Group distribution outlets). S Group's service station store and fuel sales are managed by the ABC service station chain.

Department stores and speciality stores

Retail sales by the department stores and speciality stores decreased by 6.0 per cent. At the end of June, there were a total of 21 Sokos stores and 36 Emotion stores.

Travel industry and hospitality business

Retail sales decreased by 2.3 per cent. At the end of June, there were 62 hotels and 266 restaurant locations. All in all, there were 759 restaurant locations, taking into account units located in connection with other units. The tourism and hospitality business chains include Sokos Hotels, Radisson Blu Hotels and several restaurant chains.

Automotive trade and accessories

Automotive trade fell by 17.5 per cent in January–June. S Group had 46 automotive trade outlets at the end of June.

At the beginning of July, SOK Autokauppa Oy sold six units to the Laakkonen Group. After the transaction, SOK Autokauppa Oy had four car dealerships. The sale of business operations only concerned a subsidiary of SOK, and it had no impact on the automotive trade carried out by regional cooperatives within the S Group.

Agricultural trade

Comparable sales in the agricultural trade increased by 5.0 per cent. The chains operating in the agricultural trade segment are Agrimarket and Multasormi (garden supplies). The number of agricultural trade outlets fully owned by the S Group totaled 18 at the end of June. Cooperatives engaged in agricultural trade include Etelä-Pohjanmaan Osuuskauppa, Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa and Kymen Seudun Osuuskauppa.

In 2013, the sales and the number of outlets within the agricultural trade no longer included Hankkija-Maatalous Oy, a former subsidiary of SOK, as 60 per cent of the company was sold to the Danish DLA Group at the turn of the year.

Neighbouring areas (the Baltic countries and St. Petersburg)

Retail sales in the business operations in Finland's neighbouring areas totaled EUR 270.9 million, up 26.8 per cent on the corresponding period in the previous year. Grocery trade sales in Finland's neighbouring areas totaled EUR 247.1 million, up 29.6 per cent. So far this year, one new Prisma outlet has been opened in Tallinn, Estonia. In the second half of the year, three outlets will be opened in St. Petersburg.

Banking

The interest shown by cooperative enterprises' co-op members in services built around the S-Etukortti Visa card continued in the first half of 2013. The number of S-Bank's customers continued to grow and amounted to more than 2.6 million at the end of June. The number of customers increased by more than 50,000 in the first half of the year.

By the end of June, S-Bank had issued a total of nearly 1.3 million S-Etukortti Visa cards. This was an increase of nearly 120,000 cards from the end of the previous year. By the end of June, more than 1.2 million customers had acquired S-Bank electronic banking IDs.

By the end of June, private customers had deposited a total of EUR 2,277 million into S-Bank's accounts. Corporate deposits included, S-Bank's total funds on deposit stood at EUR 2,357 million at the end of June.

The number of loans issued by S-Bank also increased in the first half of the year. At the end of June, the amount of outstanding credit totaled EUR 502 million. This represents an increase of EUR 142 million from the beginning of the year.

Co-op membership

The number of members in cooperatives included in the bonus system increased by 37,234 in January–June. The total membership was 2,064,990 at the end of June. The co-op members, or the members of the cooperative enterprises, are the sole owners of S Group's cooperative enterprises. Co-op membership is S Group's way of conducting its cooperative form of business and producing services and benefits for its co-op members.

Between January and June, purchases made by co-op members, or bonus sales of S Group companies, totaled EUR 4,642 million, up 1.3 per cent on the corresponding period in the previous year. Bonus sales accounted for 71.1 per cent (66.9 per cent) of the entire S Group's sales. Co-op members were paid EUR 185.5 million in bonuses (a purchase reward based on centralising their monthly purchases); the figure increased by EUR 3.0 million compared to the corresponding period in the previous year.

The payment method-related benefit paid to the co-op members increased by seven per cent compared to the corresponding period last year, amounting to EUR 2.9 million. The co-op members have been receiving the payment method-related benefit of 0.5 per cent since the beginning of 2008. The benefit is calculated from the total sum of purchases covered by the bonus scheme and made at Finnish S Group outlets using the S-Etukortti bonus card.

Summary:

S Group's sales and economic development in January–June 2013

The S Group as a whole

• S Group's retail sales amounted to EUR 5,526.3 million in January–June.

• Retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent.

• S Group's non-consolidated result (SOK Corporation plus cooperative enterprises) before extraordinary items was EUR 60.6 million (previous year: EUR 87.2 million).

• Capital expenditure totaled EUR 365 million (EUR 290 million).

• The total number of units within the Group was 1,648 on 30 June 2013. This is 49 units less than at the beginning of the year.

Regional cooperatives

• Retail sales were EUR 5,065.6 million.

• Retail sales increased by 0.6 per cent.

• Profit before extraordinary items and taxes was EUR 56.6 million (previous year: EUR 80.1 million).

SOK Corporation (SOK plus subsidiaries)

• Revenue from continuing operations was EUR 4,176.2 million, down by 20.1 per cent from the previous year.

• The decrease of EUR 1,047.8 million in the revenue from continuing operations is due to a change that took place in the ownership of North European Oil Trade Oy in December 2012. As a result of this change, North European Oil Trade Oy is no longer considered a subsidiary but a joint venture.

• The comparable revenue excluding the figures for these companies increased slightly from the previous year.

• Profit before taxes (continuing and discontinued operations) was EUR 4.0 million (EUR 7.1 million).

• Capital expenditure totaled EUR 69.4 million (EUR 42.7 million).

• The number of SOK Corporation personnel decreased by 981 people from the corresponding period last year, totaling 10,026 at the end of June.

Further information:

Kuisma Niemelä, CEO, SOK, tel. +358 (0)10 76 80200Jari Annala, Senior Vice President, CFO, SOK, tel. +358 (0)10 76 82040

SOK Corporation's Interim Report is available in its entirety at https://www.s-kanava.fi/web/s/medialle/raportit