Pic hypermarket chain expects over 5% higher sales in 2009

Pic hypermarket chain, held by brothers Ilie and Cornel Penescu, expects an over 5% sales increase this year against 2008, after recording an over 20-30% rise last year due to expansion, according to data provided by the company. "We noticed a decline in the market growth rate in January and February. It is natural that growth should slow down at some point, mainly due to the tightening of competition among hypermarket chains on the market. The crisis merely sped things up a bit," said Liviu Facaleata, general manager of the Pic Group. The chain, which currently numbers five stores, posted an around 5% sales increase in January, compared with the first month of last year, and had a zero sales increase in February.