The German-based Hawesko wine trading company, which is listed on the German stock exchange, reports no sales growth for the 2009 calendar year. In fact, the reported sales of 338.6 million Euros were fractionally less than the 338.8 million Euros reported last year. However, the company is more optimistic about the prospects for 2010, and has high hopes for growth in Internet sales.

The various divisions of the group showed widely divergent trends. The Internet division gained more than 200.000 new customers, and sales via the Internet grew by 27 per cent. The Jacques' Wein-Depot retail chain showed slight growth. Château Classic, a subsidiary specialised on Bordeaux wines, fared much worse, this is one of the reasons why the operative profit (Ebit) fell by 13 per cent to 22.2 million Euros.

The company has declared that the economic crisis is over, at least in its field of business, and expects to see better figures this year. The share price di not move much on the reported sales. (WF)