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Russian retail colossus Magnit has overtaken X5 Retail Group to become the country's largest by sales. While anticipated, speculation is now likely to turn to whether Magnit can extend its lead, or if X5 has what it takes to up its game and claw back the number one position.

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Russian retailer Magnit has seen profits benefit from improved purchasing terms and cost controls as it expanded its store footprint over the past 12 months.

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X5 Retail Group has had a turbulent year. Management changes and a significant strategic shift that has sidelined the importance of M&A to the group's expansion plans have combined with an intensely competitive market to leave Russia's largest retailer losing share to its peers. Katy Askew suggests the next 12 months will be telling for the company.

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News that Andrei Gusev will stand down as X5 Retail Group chief executive caused shares in the Russian retailer to sink to a 52-week low on Saturday (14 July). The market responded negatively to fears that an unstable management team will be unable to drive growth as X5 struggles to improve organic sales trends. The sudden nature of the announcement and lack of clarity over the reasons for Gusev's departure augmented these concerns. Katy Askew reports.

Dixy significantly beefed up its presence in Russia's food retail sector when it acquired local peer Victoria Group two years ago. While the company still has its foot on the throttle, with some ambitious plans to expand over the next three years, Dixy's attention has now turned to a lower-capital intensive organic growth phase. Katy Askew spoke to Dixy's head of investor relations Natalya Belyavskaya to find out more.

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just-food's interviews with senior executives in the international food sector provide exclusive insight into how the leading lights in the industry deal with the challenges and embrace the opportunities in front of them. This year, the most-read interviews on just-food included one-on-ones with companies from General Mills and Heinz to Russian retail giant Magnit to the UK government minister responsible for food policy.

Russian retailer Magnit has reported higher first-quarter earnings.

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Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has reported a 6% rise in like-for-like sales for the first quarter of 2014, a faster rate of growth than seen in 2013.

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Russian retailer Magnit saw like-for-like sales rise over 7% in the first quarter of 2014, it said today (10 April).

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Russian retailer Magnit reported an increase in operating profit for fiscal 2013, boosted by higher sales and stronger margins.

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Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has said that it will push ahead with plans to improve its performance in 2014 in the face of what it described as "ebbing" consumer confidence in the country.

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Magnit, Russia's largest food retailer by revenue, has booked higher sales for 2013, although a slowdown in the fourth quarter caused its shares to fall today.

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Russian retailer Magnit has said its new distribution centre in Yaroslavl will support the expansion of its store network in the region.

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Magnit, Russia's largest retailer by sales, has said it will open a new distribution centre in Yaroslavl.

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Auchan has outlined plans to open ten to 14 stores in Russia in 2014 across its three different formats.

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Magnit, Russia's largest retailer by sales, said it achieved "record" profitability in the first nine months of the year but lowered its sales target for the full year.

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Magnit, Russia's largest retailer by sales, has lifted a margin forecast for this year.

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Russian retail giant X5 Retail Group has declined to comment on reports it may acquire Moscow-based competitor Seventh Continent.

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Half-year profits at Russian retailer Magnit jumped almost 40%, pushing its shares higher today (23 July).

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Half-year sales at Russian retailer Magnit jumped 30%, thanks to the contribution of new stores and signs underlying sales were also up.

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Russian retail giant Magnit has booked an increase in profits in the first quarter of the year.

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A raft of companies report to the market next week, including UK-based food group Associated British Foods, which is set to unveil its half-year results. Data for the first quarter of 2013 will continue to come in, with Unilever, Hershey and Premier Foods plc among those set to publish numbers.

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The industry's first-quarter results continued to pour in last week and two of France's leading retailers, Carrefour and Casino revealed sales figures that got analysts talking. Carrefour appeared pleased with its domestic performance, while Casino was encouraged by the results of recent pricing initiatives. Elsewhere, Tesco finally confirmed its plans to exit the US and revealed it had received and was pursuing interest in the business.

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Major food manufacturers began to report their first-quarter results last week. Nestle came under scrutiny for its performance in emerging markets. A cautious Danone saw signs of improvement from its European dairy operations, while its infant formula business was buoyant. Elsewhere, we shone the spotlight on the recent rationing of formula in Western markets amid high demand in China, looked at Marks and Spencer's latest European venture and analysed Magnit's move to Russian retail's top spot.

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UK-based R&R Ice Cream last week snapped up local rival Fredericks Dairies, a deal its CEO told us will help it compete better with Unilever. We spoke to M&A analysts about the potential sale of Burton's Biscuit Co. and to the chairman of Canada's Dare Foods about his expansion plans. In Europe, the sector was rocked by fresh horsemeat revelations, including news an Asda product contained the veterinary drug phenylbutazone.

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X5 Retail Group has booked an 8.1% increase in first-quarter net sales, driven by store openings - although like-for-like sales were less buoyant.

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Russian retailer Magnit has recorded an increase in sales in the first quarter of 2013.

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This week saw the debate around the food industry's role in the obesity epidemic come to the fore once again, as the UK Government warned that the industry must do more or face the possibility of legislation. The inauguration of Barack Obama for his second term in office gave us a timely opportunity to look at what has been achieved under his administration - and what could be in store for US food makers. Meanwhile, news that Christine Tacon has been named UK Groceries Code Adjudicator put supply chain relationships firmly in the spotlight. We were able to delve a little deeper into Tacon's take on the subject when we interviewed her shortly after her appointment.

Sachin Tendulkar isn't alone in bidding farewell to colleagues as, today, I enter into my final few hours as news editor for just-food.