Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has reported a 6% rise in like-for-like sales for the first quarter of 2014, a faster rate of growth than seen in 2013.
However, the number of customers visiting X5’s Perekrestok supermarkets fell, meaning like-for-like sales from those stores rose only slowly.
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The company said today (11 April) like-for-like sales were up 6.3% in the first three months of the year.
In 2013, like-for-likes inched up 0.7%, although there were signs of better growth later in the year, with sales up 3.9% in fourth quarter.
X5 saw like-for-like sales rise across all its formats in the first quarter of 2014. Growth was strongest at its Pyaterochka “economy-class stores” and Karusel hypermarkets.
However, sales from the retailer’s Perekrestok supermarkets only rose 0.4% and customer traffic to the stores were down 0.6%. Traffic to the Perekrestok stores worsened through the quarter.
On a reported basis, X5’s total net sales climbed 13.9% during the quarter to RUB143.9bn (US$4.04bn).
At the end of March, X5 had 4,618 company-operated stores, including 3,966 Pyaterochkas, 384 Perekrestok outlets, 81 Karusel hypermarkets and 187 Express convenience stores.
Yesterday, rival Russian retailer Magnit posted a 7.5% rise in first-quarter like-for-like sales. The retailer’s net sales were up 25% at RUB163.95bn.
