Voegele shares soar on E. Europe expansion plans

...ahead with its expansion into Eastern Europe earlier than expected.

By 0912 GMT, shares had risen 6.72 percent to 114.30 Swiss francs, having touched 115 francs per share, outperforming a 1.2 percent increase in the Swiss mid-cap index .

Markets shrugged off the group's full-year loss of 20 million francs in 2006, focusing instead on the firm's decision to accelerate its pace of growth in Eastern Europe.

"Expansion into Eastern Europe starts earlier than expected...One store could attribute 1 million euros in Poland and the Czech Republic could come in 2009," Alain Oberhuber, analyst at Vontobel, said in a research note.

The eastward expansion should create economies of scale and reduce the group's dependence on weather conditions specific to key markets Switzerland and Germany.

After several years of internal reorganisation, Voegele has ushered in a phase of expansion that will test demand in Eastern Europe by opening shops in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary.

[ZURICH/Reuters/Finance.cz]