Consumption does not seem to be picking up, and projections seeing the mid-year as a "zero" moment for the end of the worst period have already come to be overly upbeat, writes BUSINESS Magazin. Store networks are not rushing to report financial results, and the ones that do are trying to find formulas that should be as positive as possible. No matter how disagreeable it may sound, though, sales are sliding further and improvement signs are late to emerge. Dusan Wilms, general manager of Metro Cash & Carry, has recently said first-quarter sales "were in line with expectations". This means they did not rise because years on end, when consumption was soaring, all the networks were rushing to report not just their financial results, but investment plans as well. For more than a year now, retailers have preferred to keep quiet or, at best, they communicate information on an as diplomatic tone as possible. After years when annual sales growth rates were two-digit ones, the 2009 figures had the effect of a cold shower over retailers, being the first time when they coped with declines since they had entered the market.

Consumption does not seem to be picking up, and projections seeing the mid-year as a "zero" moment for the end of the worst period have already come to be overly upbeat, writes BUSINESS Magazin. Store networks are not rushing to report financial results, and the ones that do are trying to find formulas that should be as positive as possible. No matter how disagreeable it may sound, though, sales are sliding further and improvement signs are late to emerge. Dusan Wilms, general manager of Metro Cash & Carry, has recently said first-quarter sales "were in line with expectations". This means they did not rise because years on end, when consumption was soaring, all the networks were rushing to report not just their financial results, but investment plan