Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has posted a 5.7% increase in like-for-like sales in the quarter to 31 March.
The retailer saw like-for-like sales in its Pyaterochka banner rise 6.1%, with traffic up 4.2% and basket size up 1.8%. At its Perekrestok banner, meanwhile, like-for-like sales were up 5.9%, driven by a 1.4% traffic increase and a 4.4% increase in basket size.
Sales Performance
Reported revenue for the period was up 15.6% to RUB 469 billion (€5.83 billion), while adjusted EBITDA rose 11.8% in the period.
Revenue was up 17.4% at Pyaterochka, and by 21.3% at Perekrestok, however its Karusel banner was down 18.8%, mainly due to the closure of some stores and the reformatting of others to Perekrestok outlets.
Selling space was up 11.0% on the same period the previous year, which contributed 10.2% to the group's quarterly sales growth.
The group said that its gross margin was down 43 basis points, however, to 24.3%, mainly due to targeted price investments in January and February, as well as higher logistics costs in March.
Net debt/EBITDA was 1.48x as of 31 March, the retailer said.
COVID-19 Response
As with rival Lenta, which released its results earlier this week, X5 has announced a series of measures to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic in Russia.
'In the face of the constantly changing situation surrounding the spread of COVID-19, X5 has been able to meet the rapid growth in demand caused by consumers stocking up before the lockdown was announced in Russia on 28 March 2020,' it said.
The group has also introduced measures such as mandatory body checks for all employees entering its premises, as well as the distribution of masks, disposable gloves and other protective equipment.
'X5’s stores and logistics personnel are on the front line for delivering an uninterrupted supply of food to more than 70 million people in Russia,' it added. 'In the face of the constantly changing situation around COVID-19, X5 has been able to meet the rapid growth in demand while implementing a number of safety measures to protect its customers and employees.'
© 2020 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.
