S Group's operating result in daily consumer good sales in Finland grew 4.8 percent and totalled EUR 7,252 million. The growth continued above general market levels.

— Considering how stiff the competition is, this is a good result. Growth was demonstrated in stores of all sizes, but the positive development of our biggest store chain, Prisma, has the biggest overall effect. The numbers predict a slight increase to our market share in daily consumer goods segment, says SOK's CEO Taavi Heikkilä.

The Stockmann Herkku takeover, which was completed in early 2018, gained a lot of publicity, as did the Helsinki store's updated Food Market Herkku concept.

— Clients' feedback on the concept update has been overwhelmingly positive. The project's success has even gained international attention. S Group's market store business is able to utilise this experience in developing its whole store network to an even higher level, says Heikkilä.

S Group's total sales result, including household consumables and other areas, was EUR 8,096 million growing 2.9 percent. Service station store and fuel sales reached EUR 1,729 million growing 5.9 percent in comparison to last year. The travel and hospitality business accumulated a total sales result of EUR 816 million with a slight growth of 0.6 percent. On the other hand, department store and specialised trading reached a total sales result of EUR 294 million with a change of -5.2 percent. Other business areas achieved sales of EUR 587 million in total.

S Group's tax-free retail sales 1–12/2018

Business areas

Sales  (million €, entire S Group)

Change compared to1–12/2017 (%)

Supermarket trade*

8096.2

2.9

Service station store and fuel sales

1729.4

5.9

Travel industry and hospitality business*

816.0

0.6

Department stores and specialised trade

293.9

-5.2

Others:

587.2

-9.7

S Group total*

11,522.6

2.2

* The figure includes sales in the Baltic countries and Russia.

S Group's result for 2018 will be announced on Friday, 8 February 2019.

For further information, please contact:CEO Taavi Heikkilä, SOK, tel. +358 (0)10 76 80200Jorma Vehviläinen, Senior Vice President, CFO, SOK Finance and Administration, tel. +358 10 76 80608