Colruyt has announced that net profit climbed by 8 per cent through the first half of 2009, up to €162.5m, as customers continued to turn to turn to cheaper goods amid the economic slowdown.
Sales at the Belgium-based discounter for the six-month period to September 2009 increased by 7.1 per cent, up to €3.3bn, while operational profit grew 7.8 per cent to €229m.
The results have kept the group on course to meet its net profit forecast of €320m for 2009/10, which would represent an increase of 4.6 per cent on 2008/09.
According to the company, its share of the Belgian retail market grew to 23.1 per cent during the third quarter of the year, compared with 22.4 per cent a year earlier.
