Trade's net sales in July-September decreased by 15% due to the divestment of operations. Net sales adjusted for structural changes were at the comparable quarter's level.

Developments in the businesses

Net sales from kiosk operations were down by 2% in the third quarter due to the divestment of Russian and Romanian operations. As a part of the development programme, a major optimisation of the kiosk network has been executed during 2011. The customer volumes as well as net sales showed positive development in the comparable part of the kiosk chain in Finland thanks to the continued performance uplift measures during the second and third quarters. Net sales grew also in all Baltic countries.

Net sales from trade services decreased by 10% due to the divestment of Russian and Romanian operations. Net sales increased in Finland, Estonia and Latvia. In Finland, the new ERP system, which enables the distribution of new products and services, is now fully operational.

Net sales in bookstores decreased by 6%. Sales grew in Estonia but decreased somewhat in Finland. The market situation remained sluggish in both markets. The Finnish bookstore operations were divested at the end of September.

Movie operations, divested at the end of April, were no longer included in Trade's figures in the third quarter.

After the review period, the Latvian kiosk and press distribution operations were sold to Reitan Group. In its fourth quarter result, Trade will record a EUR 5 million non-recurring sales gain for the transaction. The divestment will have only minor impacts in the segment's net sales and operating profit in 2011.

Third quarter operating profit

Trade's operating profit excluding non-recurring items in July-September decreased by 8% due to structural changes. Increased customer volumes and increased sales of higher margin products as well as several efficiency improvement measures improved the operational result in the kiosk operations significantly. The result improved also in trade services. The positive effects of divesting loss-making operations partly compensated for the loss of result from the divestment of movie operations. Trade's operating profit in the third quarter included EUR -15.2 million (2010: EUR -1.0 million) of non-recurring items, consisting mainly of sales loss related to the divestment of bookstore operations in Finland and write-downs of store premises in Finland.

Trade's outlook

Continuous development of its product and service offering, based on the consumer insight gained from its 160 million annual customer contacts, is a key success factor for Trade's operations. In addition to continuously developing its kiosk concept and trade service offering, Trade is focusing on improving the performance of its operations.

Following the divestments of operations, it is estimated that Trade's net sales in 2011 will decrease significantly. Operating profit excluding non-recurring items is expected to decline slightly.