“While southern Europe continued being affected by the current economic situation, the IKEA Group continued gaining market shares in almost all markets,” IKEA said in a statement.
In the twelve month period ended Aug. 31, IKEA sales rose to 27.9 billion euros, the company said. Sales in comparable stores grew 1.8 percent in the same period, it added.
The sales figures were released separately with the full earnings report due in January next year.
Privately held IKEA, famous for its self-build flat packs and huge stores, last year set a target to double sales to around 50 billion euros ($67.8 billion) by 2020.
In other action, IKEA said late last month it has started selling residential solar panels at its stores in Britain. The company plans to eventually expand sales of renewable energy products worldwide.
The solar panels are manufactured in China. The standard 3.2 kilowatt system costs about 5,700 pounds, or $9,200. It comes with design services, installation, maintenance and monitoring service.
There are currently 303 IKEA group stores globally, including one in West Chester Twp. in Butler County.IKEA employs 139,000 people.
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