X5 Retail Group, Russia’s largest retailer by sales, this morning (9 April) posted a 7% rise in quarterly like-for-like sales despite slowing food inflation in the country.
The company said the growth came from a “powerful” performance from its discount stores and despite “persistent pressure” on its supermarkets and hypermarkets.
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“Overall, X5 achieved strong results against a backdrop of weak consumer spending and drastically lower food inflation in Russia of approximately 5% compared to 16% a year ago,” CEO Lev Khasis said.
Net sales jumped 20% to RUB75.75bn (US$2.56bn) in the three months to the end of March as X5 opened 27 more stores.
Russia’s retail sector was hit particularly badly by the economic downturn but Khasis was looking to the future with optimism.
“We believe consumer spending will begin to show improvement towards the end of the year. This, in combination with stepped up new store openings and stronger Paterson sales post-integration should enable X5 to deliver on its full year objectives and benefit from future economic recovery,” he said.
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By GlobalDataX5 reiterated its capital expenditure plan and sales growth forecast for 2010. Sales growth this year will be “comparable” to 2009, when growth reached 25%, X5 said in January.
