Finnish retailer S Group has seen its market share rise to 47.2%, according to the latest figures from Nielsen, which is a 1.3 percentage point increase on the previous year.
A spokesperson for the group attributed the growth to an increase in value sales, as well as strong pricing, more flexible opening hours and a "wider background of good development" at the group.
Sales volumes at Finland's largest grocery chain, S-Market, increased 5% last year, driven by more extensive opening hours, the company said.
The spokesperson said that S Group remains committed to growing its hypermarket concept, which was described as a "valuable resource", as well as smaller format stores, which can be found in 284 different municipalities across the country.
In February, S Group announced that its retail sales rose 2.0% lsat year to €11.02 billion, up from €10.8 billion the previous year.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine