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BOSTONNEW YORK Reuters Shares o major Uto ReadSonia TorresSenior PR Copyright Business Wire 2009New Hire to Support Client Ser ices Expand irms CapabilitiesKIRKLAND WashTo date the aircra t ha e lown more than 28000 hoursRegulated lenders gaining groundAccording to MrIsrael and Hamas are also at odds o er how long the cease ire would lastRyan's stupidity makes one miss Eric ManginiA player Irsquom interested in learning more about is Noah LowryThe Natacha and Paul eto was not li ted howe er rom another trackI couldn't see where those e enings were headed Tra ic declined by 3.5 during the quarter, while the a erage basket wasbroadly stable.Supermarkets:Like- or-like supermarket sales including petrol dropped by 1.1. Excludingpetrol, sales were up 2, broadly in line with per ormance o er the irst ninemonths o the year. Tra ic increased slightly (0.8), as did the a eragebasket (1.2). We exceeded our target or the con ersion o Champion supermarkets and ended2008 with 160 stores operating under the Carre our Market banner. The con ertedstores posted healthy per ormance, with close to double-digit increase in theirsales. 
Hard discount, con enience stores and other acti ities:Hard discount sales ell by 3 during the quarter, with a 3.9 drop on alike- or-like basis. More price-cutting rom early October onwards and increasedsales in our branded products led to a decrease in dry grocery product sales igures. "Other" acti ities posted an increase in sales o 3.6, (4.3 on alike- or-like basis) with a continuation o healthy trends at con eniencestores, with a like- or-like increase o 2.1. WESTERN EUROPE (excluding rance) Resilient sales amid tougher conditions during the ourth Quarter Slowing sales in Spanish hypermarkets Stabilisation in trends in Italy and Belgium 4th QUARTER 2008 ULL-YEAR 2008SALES INCL AT Like- or- Expansion TotalSALES INCL. AT Like- or- Expansion Total like like( m) ()() ( m) ()()() () WESTERN EUROPE7,182 -3.32.4 -0.9 26,974-0.32.8 2.5Spain 4,036 -3.13.3 0.215,1811.3 4.2 5.5 Hypermarkets2,605 -5.31.5 -3.8 9,648 0.0 1.6 1.6 Supermarkets192 1.1 3.6 4.7766 7.4 3.2 10.6Hard discount 980 2.7 8.6 11.3 3,753 3.7 12.516.2Other 259 0.1 1.3 1.41,014 3.8 0.6 4.4ITALY 1,914 -3.41.6 -1.8 7,156 -1.91.9 0.0 Hypermarkets870 -2.55.5 3.03,120 -1.95.4 3.5 Supermarkets527 -2.4-5.8-8.2 2,033 -1.5-4.0-5.5Other 517 -5.93.5 -2.4 2,003 -2.22.7 0.5BELGIUM 1,232 -4.00.7 -3.3 4,637 -2.80.1 -2.7Hypermarkets623 -5.71.3 -4.4 2,267 -5.10.4 -4.7Supermarkets231 -4.4-12.1 -16.5888 -2.3-13.3 -15.6 Other 378 -0.49.9 9.51,482 1.0 10.111.1 Sales in Spain were broadly stable during the quarter (0.2), with weakerdiscretionary sales and lower ood in lation. Like- or-like hypermarket sales declined by 5.3 (stable o er the year),re lecting a high base e ect in Q4 2007 and a downturn in non- ood sales(-10.6 o er the quarter s a all o 7.6 in the pre ious quarter).
Thisdecline was particularly signi icant in the textile sector. Carre our Express recorded an increase in comparable sales o 1.1 during thequarter, ollowing 12 consecuti e quarters o strong growth. Hard discount recorded an increase in its like- or-like sales o 2.7. All inall, the segments sales increased by 11.3 during the quarter (note that thePlus stores were included in like- or-like sales rom the beginning o Decemberonwards). Total sales in Italy ell by 1.8 during the ourth quarter, with like- or-likesales dropping by 3.4. Hypermarket sales rose by 3 on the back o theexpansion dri e (particularly store trans ers), with like- or-like sales alling2.5. Non- ood sales dropped by 11.1, broadly in line with trends recordedduring the third quarter.
