The retailers affiliated with Intersport and Sport 2000 in Germany had softer sales during the first three months of the year, particularly in March, according to the German Sport + Mode trade publication. At Intersport, sales were down by 14 percent in the quarter, and March alone was down by 8 percent, although the winter selling season between last October and March remained positive. The reasons given were sunny weather in March and a strong performance in the same period of last year. Another factor was the fact that the Easter holidays were three weeks later this year compared with 2010. At Sport 2000, sales slipped by 4.3 percent in the first quarter, but profits were up by 1.3 percent. This was partially due to the fact that March is usually marked by sales of winter hardgoods with excessive price reductions. As this March was warm and sunny, there was no big demand for skis, which would have squeezed the margins.

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