Russian retail giant X5 Retail Group has posted a 3.9% increase in like-for-like sales in the third quarter of its financial year, with traffic numbers up 0.5% and average basket size up 3.4%.
The group posted total net retail sales of RUB 420.7 billion for the period (€5.93 billion), which was up 12.8% year on year. This included a 8.9% sales contribution from new store openings, with the group opening 492 new stores in the quarter.
Sales Rise
Net retail sales for X5’s core formats, Pyaterochka and Perekrestok, grew 13.4% and 18.0% y-o-y, respectively, while like-for-like sales were up 3.4% and 7.6% respectively for both banners.
The group's Karusel hypermarket chain, however, saw a 2.6% decrease in sales, following a 4.1% reduction in selling space due to the transfer of three stores to Perekrestok and the closure of one store. Like-for-like sales were up 1.2% in this division.
The period saw the opening of the first new-concept Pyaterochka store, as well as a large format Perekrestok store, while 15 supermarkets reopened following a refurbishment period.
In line with the company's rationalisation programme, X5 Retail Group closed 50 proximity stores, four supermarkets and one hypermarket in the period.
Major Presence
The retailer is the current market leader in both Moscow and St. Petersburg and also has a significant presence in the European part of Russia, with 15,752 company-operated stores as of 30 September 2019.
Announcing its results, X5 Retail Group said that consumer sentiment in Russia is continuing to slowly improve, standing at -13% in the third quarter, compared to -15% in the second quarter. Food inflation is also declining, from 5.9% in Q2 to 5.0% in Q3, due to the 'early and plentiful harvest' of 2019.
Wages are also on the increase, rising 3.0% year-on-year in the third quarter, compared to 2.6% year-on-year in the second quarter, while unemployment has fallen to 4.3%.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
