X5 Retail Group NV, Russia’s second-largest retailer, posted a 34-per-cent gain in first-quarter profits as the country’s biggest grocers use their scale to keep prices down and win shoppers struggling to cope with soaring inflation.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to 13.1 billion roubles ($243 million), the Moscow-based company said, compared with the 13 billion-rouble average estimate of four analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
Russia’s largest food retailers, including PJSC Magnit, X5 and OAO Dixy Group, each boosted first-quarter sales of more than 25 per cent, as their size enabled them to negotiate better deals with suppliers than smaller chains and open markets.
Job losses and the fastest inflation in 13 years are choking off consumption, which accounts for about half the economy.
X5, controlled by billionaire Mikhail Fridman and his partners, has risen more than 50 per cent in London trading this year, recovering from January’s six-year low, as the Russian rouble rebounded versus the dollar and euro.
News by Bloomberg, edited by ESM
