Russian retailer X5 has announced that it registered a profit of US$78.9m (€64.3m) through the first quarter of 2010, up from the loss of US$82.1m (€67m) reported in the same period last year.
Moscow-based X5, the largest food retailer in the country, said that revenue for the quarter increased 36 per cent in dollar terms to hit US$2.54bn (€2.1bn), while earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation jumped 10 per cent to US$178.5m (€145.5m).
The group launched 25 new outlets through the period, mostly discount stores, taking its overall store portfolio to 1,399, while it also completed the acquisition of the Paterson retailer in December, which added 80 stores to its network.
'We expect consumer spending to begin to show improvement towards the end of the year,' said CEO Lev Khasis in a statement. 'This, in combination with new store openings and post-intelligence contribution from Paterson, should enable X5 to deliver top-line growth in the low 20 per cent range.'
