THE STOCKMANN GROUP'S PRELIMINARY SALES IN DECEMBER AND IN 2004

STOCKMANN plc STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE January 11, 2005, at 11.30

THE STOCKMANN GROUP'S PRELIMINARY SALES IN DECEMBER AND IN 2004

In December, the Stockmann Group's sales were up 6 per cent and amounted to EUR 191.5 million. The largest growth was reported by the Department Store Division whose sales were up 13 per cent.

The Department Store Division's sales growth was 6 per cent in Finland and 49 per cent abroad. The strong growth abroad was contributed by the new department stores and the two new Zara stores opened in Moscow in April and in mid-December as well as the extremely strong growth in the sales by the Riga department store in Latvia.

Sales by Seppälä were up 8 per cent. The growth was 6 per cent in Finland and 37 per cent abroad. The strong growth in the sales abroad was contributed by the favourable sales trend in Estonia and Latvia and by the new stores in Russia.

Sales by Hobby Hall were up 4 per cent. December was one of the two months in 2004 when the division's sales were up on the previous year in spite of the decrease in the number of stores. Sales were up 9 per cent in Finland and down 33 per cent abroad.

Sales by the Vehicle Division were down 17 per cent. The whole decrease is due to the transfer of the Volkswagen-Audi car dealership in Herttoniemi, Helsinki, to Kesko on July 1, 2004. The same-store sales by the Vehicle Division grew by 12 per cent.

The Group's preliminary consolidated full-year sales in 2004 were EUR 1,735 million, up 3 per cent. The comparable sales growth was about 4 per cent. The share of the sales abroad of the consolidated sales grew to 14 per cent. The final sales figures for 2004 will be published in the Group's Financial Statement Bulletin on February 15, 2005.

Sales figures in December and in January-December

December January-December January- December

20042003Ind.20042003Ind.2003
MeMe 04/03MeMe04/03Me
Department Store96.390.5106746.3706.7106706.7
Division, Finland* Department Store 26.2 17.6 149 192.7 134.4 143 134.4 Division, international operations Department Store 122.5 108.0 113 939.0 841.0 112 841.0 Division, total*
Vehicle Division30.937.183437.0480.491480.4
Hobby Hall17.115.7109180.4192.394192.3
Division, Finland Hobby Hall 1.6 2.4 67 34.0 43.5 78 43.5 Division, international operations Hobby Hall 18.8 18.1 104 214.4 235.7 91 235.7 Division, total Seppälä Division, 17.5 16.6 106 128.3 120.3 107 120.3 Finland Seppälä Division, 1.9 1.3 137 15.4 10.0 154 10.0 international operations Seppälä Division, 19.4 17.9 108 143.7 130.3 110 130.3 total Real estate + 0.1 0.1 0.9 0.9 0.9 others Operations in 161.8 159.9 101 1 492.9 1 500.6 99 1 500.6 Finland, total* International 29.7 21.3 139 242.1 187.8 129 187.8 operations, total Stockmann total* 191.5 181.2 106 1 735.0 1 688.4 103 1 688.4

* The agency sales of newspaper and magazine subscriptions that were divested in May have been eliminated from the sales figures for 2003. These sales stand for EUR 10.2 million for the whole year 2003. The consolidated sales growth regardless of this elimination was 2 per cent.

STOCKMANN plc

Hannu Penttilä CEO

DISTRIBUTION Helsinki Exchanges Principal media





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