Karstadt Shares Drop on Third Quarter Result

Shares in Germany's high-street retail chain Karstadt-Quelle dipped sharply after the release of disappointing third quarter figures on Monday. Sales in the first nine months of this year were down two percent over the same time last year. Analysts had expected much worse, but the company, Europe's largest retailer, is expecting the downward trend to continue into 2003. Karstadt-Quelle blames the economic slowdown and a drop in consumer spending following the introduction of the euro, as well as problems with its travel subsidiary Thomas Cook Germany.