Retail group Kesko has reported a net sales rise of 3.9% to E8.8bn (£7.5bn) for 2010, with operating profit nearly doubling to E268m (£230m).

In Finland, net sales increased by 4.3% and in other countries by 2.2%. International operations, which include Scandinavia, Baltics and Russia, accounted for 16.7% of net sales. In food retail operations sales grew 2.6%, home and speciality goods retail experienced a sales rise of 0.7%, while the building and home improvement trading had an impressive 9% jump.