Russia's X5 Retail Group posts 27.5% sales growth in 2016 | Progresiv

Russian food retailer X5 Retail Group has posted 27.5% year-on-year net retail sales growth in 2016, the company's fastest growth rate since 2011. Preliminary consolidated net retail sales data showed that 2016 sales reached 221.5 billion roubles (3.5 billion euros), the company's highest net retail sales growth ever. This was in spite of a drop in food inflation from 19.1% to 6%, the company said. Banner Pyaterochka was the driving force of 2016 growth; net retail sales increased by 31.2% year on year, encouraged by growth in like-for-like sales and a 37.4% expansion of selling space, contributing 23.7% to sales growth. X5 Retail Group added 2,167 new stores during the year, an addition of 968.6 thousand square metres of selling space. It also saw like-for-like traffic growth up 2.5%, compared to 2.3% in 2015. It now possesses 9,187 company-operated stores. X5 Retail Group chief Igor Shekhterman said: "The trends that have dominated the Russian food retail market since 2014 continued to affect the sector and X5 in 2016, with some possible signs of stabilisation through a deceleration in the pace of food inflation. "It is still too early to speak of a full-fledged recovery being underway, however, and we maintain our sharp focus on efficiency and continuously adapting value propositions to best address Russian consumers' needs, as we have been doing successfully since 2013 when X5’s strategic transformation was launched." He said the company will continue working towards its goal of 15% share of the Russian market by 2020. (www.esmmagazine.com)