MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russian grocery store chain Magnit posted an IFRS net profit of 6.2 billion rubles ($202 million) in January-March 2013, up 29 percent on the same period last year, the retailer said on Tuesday, citing strong sales.
Magnit’s net financial result was above a consensus forecast of analysts polled by Prime news agency who expected the retailer’s net profit at 6.1 billion rubles.
The company’s ruble revenues rose 30.43 percent year-on-year to 131.24 billion rubles due to increased selling space and like-for-like sales. In dollar terms, revenues grew by 29.8 percent to $4.3 billion.
“During 1Q 2013, the company added 191 stores (163 convenience stores, six hypermarkets, one Magnit Family and 21 cosmetics stores) and increased its selling space by 29.88 percent in comparison to 1Q 2012 from 2,024.90 thousand sq. m. to 2,629.88 thousand sq. m," Magnit said in a statement.
The company’s EBITDA increased by 25.78 percent year-on-year to 12.21 billion rubles ($401.6 million), with EBITDA margin down to 9.31 percent from 9.65 percent a year earlier.
“Last year was the strongest year in the company’s history. However, comparing 1Q 2013 results y-o-y we see that most of the changes are due to foreign exchange difference, which speaks for the sustainability of the company’s operating efficiency,” Magnit CEO Sergei Galitskiy was quoted as saying in the statement.
