19th Sep 2008 07:00
NEW APPOINTMENTS AT X5 RETAIL GrouP
Amsterdam, 19 September 2008 - X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales (LSE ticker: "FIVE"), announces new senior management appointments:
- Mikhail Susov has been appointed as the Company's Marketing Director. Mr. Susov will be responsible for X5's marketing strategy, including positioning of the formats and brand management.
- Tatiana Ponomareva has been appointed as Hypermarket Format Director. Prior to this appointment, Mrs. Ponomareva held the position of Strategy and Investments Director at X5 Retail Group.
- Vagan Abgaryan is taking over as Investments Director.
- Antonio Melo has completed his term as Chief Operational Officer of X5 due to the expiration of his contract.
X5 Retail Group CEO Lev Khasis commented:
"We highly value Antonio Melo's contribution to the development of the Company's operational strategy, strengthening its competitive positions and supporting the achievement of outstanding results. Antonio helped us to design and implement the business-processes we use today in X5's operations. He not only shared with us his expertise and deep knowledge of global retail, but also invested a lot of effort into creating a new generation of Russian retailers who know how to apply international retail practices successfully in the Russian market."
He also added: "we have decided to streamline our management structure in operations with each format's head reporting directly to the CEO. We have also significantly strengthened our marketing efforts by having appointed Mikhail Susov - one of the best marketing professionals in Russia - as X5's Marketing Director. I believe these steps will enable us to ensure the consistency and continuity of our operational strategy and achieve the highly ambitious goals set by the Company."
Antonio Melo commented:
"The years spent in Russia with X5 have been the most interesting time in my career. Russia is a unique country with outstanding growth prospects for its retail sector, while the Russian consumer is extremely open and responsive to modern retail offers and innovations. In my view, X5's management team is the strongest in the market and the Company has every reason to continue capitalizing on yet untapped opportunities faster and more effectively than its competitors."
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For further details please contact |
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Anna Kareva IR Director Tel.: +7 (495) 980-2729, ext. 22 162 e-mail: [email protected] |
Elena Cherkalova PR Manager Тел.: +7 (495) 950-5577 e-mail: [email protected] |
Mikhail Susov graduated from the Moscow University of Communications and IT with a degree in radio communications, radio broadcast and television. In 2005, he received his MBA from the National Economics Academy. Mr. Susov had held senior executive positions in a number of telecom companies, including Personal Communications (Sonet) and Comstar. From 2002 to 2005 Mikhail served as the First Vice President at MTS (Mobile TeleSystems). From 2005 to 2008 he held the post of the CEO of Effortel Group. Mr. Susov is the Chairman of the Board at Effortel Russia and a co-founder of Effortel Europe. Mikhail was assigned the title of "Global Leader for Tomorrow-2003" at the Davos World Economic Forum.
Tatiana Ponomareva graduated from the Moscow State Technical University n.a. N.E. Bauman with a degree in laser medicine; Higher School of Economics with a Master of Economics (Strategic Marketing). Tatiana started her career in 1997 as an assistant auditor in KPMG Ltd. From 1998 to 1999 she worked as business information analyst in Ericson International. Starting from 1999 she was an investment analyst in Altium Capital CIS Ltd. Tatiana joined Perekrestok in 2001, in 2005 she was appointed Strategy and Investments Director of Perekrestok. Since the merger of Perekrestok and Pyaterochka in 2006 Tatiana has held the position of Strategy and Investments Director of X5 Retail Group.
Vagan Abgaryan graduated from the S. Ordzhonikidze State Academy of Management with a degree in International Economic Relations. Mr. Abgaryan worked at Alfa-Bank from 1995 to 2007, where he most recently served as the Head of Asset Management and Senior Vice-President. He was also the Chairman of the Investment Committee at Alfa Bank. From 1993 to 1995 he worked at Ernst & Young.
Note to Editors:
X5 Retail Group N.V. is Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales. The Company was created as a result of a merger between Pyaterochka (soft discounter chain) and Perekrestok (supermarket chain) on 18 May 2006. The Company further strengthened its leadership on 26 June 2008 by completing the acquisition of Karusel hypermarket chain.
As at 30 June 2008, X5 operated 991 store located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, other regions of European Russia and the Urals, as well as in Ukraine. X5's multiformat store network comprises 762 soft discount stores under "Pyaterochka" brand, 190 supermarkets under "Perekrestok" brand and 39 hypermarkets under "Karusel" and "Perekrestok" brands.
As of 30 June 2008, X5's franchisees operated 710 stores across Russia and in Kazakhstan.
X5's net sales for the full year 2007 reached USD 5,320 mln, an increase of 53% year-on-year. Gross profit for the period totaled USD 1,404 mln, EBITDA amounted to USD 479 mln. Full year 2007 net income reached USD 144 mln.
X5 Retail Group N.V.'s net sales for the first half 2008 surged 60% in USD terms and reached USD 3,766 mln (excluding Karusel). Gross profit for the period totaled USD 978 mln, EBITDA amounted to USD 351 mln, net income reached USD 161 mln.
Including Karusel on pro-forma basis the Company's net sales for the first half 2008 totaled USD 4,326 mln, gross profit amounted to USD 1,115 mln, EBITDA - to USD 388 mln and net income - to USD 153 mln.
Forward looking statements:
This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not only relate to historical or current events. Forward-looking statements often use words such as "anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "expected", "plan", "goal" believe", or other words of similar meaning.
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances, a number of which are beyond X5 Retail Group N.V.'s control. As a result, actual future results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in these forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of X5 Retail Group N.V. speak only as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by any applicable laws or regulations, X5 Retail Group N.V. undertakes no obligation publicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this document that may occur due to any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document.
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