2nd Nov 2009 11:00
X5 and citi to launch joint project on co-branded cards
Moscow, 2 November 2009 - Today X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales, and ZAO Citibank signed an agreement to launch a joint project of issuing co-branded cards. Owners of the new cards will get rewards when making purchases at Perekrestok supermarkets as part of the "Perekrestok Club" loyalty program. Both debit and credit cards will be issued on the basis of one of International payment systems and will be available to Perekrestok customers already in the first half 2010.
The traditional "Perekrestok Club" cards exist since 2006 and over 900,000 people are now cardholders and members of this successful loyalty program. In 2009, the Club expanded its coverage beyond Moscow and the Moscow region, and now the "Perekrestok Club" cards are in use in all regions of Perekrestok operations.
Lev Khasis, X5 Chief Executive Officer, noted: "Х5 Retail Group is the first food retailer in Russia, who started to develop a unique loyalty program for its customers. Our joint project with Citibank will make our supermarkets even more attractive for customers."
Zdenek Turek, President ZAO Citibank, Head of Citi in Russia and CIS, noted: "Citi Russia is delighted to welcome Perekrestok as a new member to the family of our co-brand products. Perekrestok is one of the most popular and most preferred merchants for our cardholders. We believe this new partnership between Citi and Russia's leading retailer will offer our joint customers unique benefits yet unmatched in the consumer market in Russia.
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For further details please contact |
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Anna Kareva IR Director X5 Retail Group Tel.: +7 (495) 980-2729, ext. 22 216 e-mail: [email protected] |
Irina Kiparoidze Public Relations manager ZAO Citibank Tel.: + 7 (495) 642-76-84 e-mail: [email protected] |
Notes for 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. In June 2008, X5 acquired Karusel hypermarket chain and substantially strengthened its position in hypermarket format. As at 30 September 2009, X5 had 1,217 Company-managed stores located in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other regions of European Russia, Urals and Ukraine, including 952 soft discount stores, 210 supermarkets and 55 hypermarkets. As at 30 September 2009, X5's franchisees operated 586 stores across Russia. For the full year 2008, X5's net sales including acquired Karusel business on a pro-forma basis totaled USD 8,892 mln, EBITDA reached USD 803 mln, and net profit adjusted for non-cash goodwill impairment charge amounted to USD 112 mln. For the first half 2009 X5's net sales totaled USD 3,978 mln, EBITDA reached USD 347 mln, and net profit amounted to USD 48 mln. For the nine months 2009, net retail sales totaled USD 6,053 mln. X5 Shareholder structure is as follows: Alfa Group - 47.9%, founders of Pyaterochka - 23.1%, X5 Management - 1.9%, treasury shares - 0.1%, free float - 27.0%.
Citi was among the first international banks to enter the Russian market when it established a local bank, Citibank ZAO, in Moscow in 1993. Citi has since grown its business to be among the country's largest banks offering a full range of products and services to corporate and consumer customers. At present, the Bank has over 3,000 employees, its distribution network includes more than 58 retail branches, 350 ATMs and representative offices in 11 Russian cities: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Volgograd, Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Ufa and operations centre in Ryazan. Today Citi is present in 3 CIS countries - Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through its two operating units, Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.
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