Russian retailer Lenta said it was pulling its 2022 guidance on store openings and capital expenditure as political uncertainty continues to put pressure on Russia's retail market.
Lenta, which operates a chain of hypermarkets across the country, said it would not issue new guidance until market conditions stabilise.
The company said that its net income fell 44.2% year-on-year to RUB 735 million roubles (€9.16 million) in the first quarter of 2022.
"We continue to operate all our stores and have quickly adapted to address the challenges that have risen over the past two months," chief executive Vladimir Sorokin said in a press release.
"We adjusted our supply chains, modified some operational processes, and revised certain approaches to working with suppliers", he said.
The company reported year-on-year sales growth of 23.4% to RUB 132.4 billion (€1.7 billion) during the quarter, with retail sales amounting to RUB 130.5 billion (€1.6 billion).
Online sales grew by 184.2% year-on-year in this period, to RUB 10.8 billion (€130 million).
Inflation And Economic Uncertainty
Russian retailers have been under pressure as consumers react to higher inflation and economic uncertainty which has been brewing since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on 24 February.
Growth in online sales of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) in Russia slowed in April to the lowest level since 2017, market analytics firm NielsenIQ said on Friday, after a crisis-driven scramble for products sent demand soaring in March.
In February of this year, it announced the appointment of Sergey Sergeev as its chief information officer.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM – your source for the latest retail news. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
