Sligro

Dutch supermarket and foodservice operator Sligro has revealed that its net profit for the first half of the year rose 4.6 per cent to €28m compared with the same period of 2009.

Sales during the six-month period increased slightly by 2.7 per cent to hit €1.1bn, although gross margin as a percentage of sales fell by 0.3 points as a result of price and promotional campaigns and shifts in the group's activity mix.

Organic sales growth totalled 4.7 per cent, the group said, while like-for-like consumer sales in food retail were up 4.2 per cent.

The group noted that group sales for the full-year are expected to end higher than those recorded in 2009, although the company did not provide detailed numbers.