Altex wants to bring back customers who shop in Hungary

Electronics retailer Altex, which saw a 20% decline in turnover last year, estimates it will close the 2006 financial year with a 0 to 1% profit margin. "We hope to achieve a profit margin of around 0%. I don't know if it will be below or above zero, but this will become apparent towards the end of the month. I think the result will be positive, and will stand at around 1%," stated Dan Ostahie, chairman and CEO of Altex. The reasons given for the results, down from a 2.33% profit margin in 2005, were the decline of the overall market, as well as investments in developing the Altex and Media Galaxy networks in the country. Altex has recently completed a 500,000-euro investment in building a Media Galaxy electronics centre with a 3,000 square-metre area in Satu-Mare, the 15th largest in the network. "Th ere is a trend on the market that we have not as yet taken into account, educated customers who do their shopping in Hungary. We want to bring these customers back," stated Ostahie.