RUSSIA: Lenta posts Q1 results and announces plans for further store openings | Progresiv
Russian retailer Lenta posted a total sales increase of 17.2% in Q1 2017 to 77.9 billion rubles (1.29 billion euros), compared with 66.5 billion rubles (1.1 billion euros) in Q1 2016. Lenta also reported a like-for-like increase of 1.7% compared to the same period last year. 
The retailer's total store count reached 247 (195 hypermarkets, 52 supermarkets) up from 180 in Q1 2016. Lenta also posted a selling space increase of 30.3% against Q1 2016. Lenta confirmed its 2017 plans to open 30 new hypermarkets and 50 new supermarkets and its long-term growth targets for 2017-2020 remain unchanged.
“The macro and consumer environment for food retail remained challenging in the first quarter of 2017 [...] We hope to see some improvement in the environment later in the year and are putting sales initiatives in place to capitalise on this to deliver a pick-up in sales growth," said Lenta CEO Jan Dunning. (www.esmmagazine.com)
