Fnac Darty reported a 0.7% rise in first-quarter sales on Wednesday, with lower activity in France and Switzerland offset by a recovery in the Iberian Peninsula.

The French specialist retail group posted sales of €1.79 billion for the first three months of the year.

France and Switzerland, the group's largest market where sales fell by 0.7%, contributed 1.46 billion euros to sales. In the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), sales growth reached 15.5% to 179 million euros.

"First-quarter business levels were in line with previous quarters. The timing of the recovery in volumes remains uncertain", commented Fnac Darty in a press release.

The group confirmed its target of recurring operating income for 2024 at least equal to that of 2023 and cumulative free operating cash flow of around €500 million over 2021-2024, i.e. a level of €180 million for this year.

(Written by Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)