X5 Retail Group saw its like-for-like sales slide in the third quarter as the Russian retail giant experienced a decline in customer traffic.
In the three months to the end of September, like-for-like sales fell 1.7% in Rouble terms, driven by a 6.2% drop in customer traffic, which was offset by a 4.9% increase in the average basket.
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Consolidated sales for the period, however, totalled RUR123.53bn (US$3.83bn), a year-on-year increase of 6.6%. This was boosted by selling space expansion, price inflation and the “positive” performance of maturing stores added over the past two years, the retailer said.
X5 increased its selling space by 11.5% in the period, primarily driven by additions at its Pyaterochka format where net selling space increased by 16.9%. Customer visits also increased, by 3.5%, again driven by the Pyaterochka format.
In the quarter, X5 added 156 stores, bringing its total to 4,187 stores.
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