St. Petersburg, Russia; 14 November, 2016– Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the opening of its seventh own distribution centre.

The new distribution centre will exclusively serve supermarkets in the Moscow and Central regions. The distribution centre is located at 3 Leshino industrial zone, Chekhov district, Moscow Region, with a total space of 31,600 sq.m. It has the capacity to serve over 150 supermarkets. The distribution centre is owned by Lenta.
The new distribution centre will help to realise operational efficiencies while adding capacity to support further development of supermarkets in the Moscow and Central regions.  Importantly, the hypermarket distribution centre which served Lenta’s Moscow supermarkets prior to this opening will now focus exclusively in serving hypermarkets in the region. This specialisation will increase the efficiency of Lenta’s hypermarket supply chain, with further improvements to come due to volume growth as a result of the continuing programme of hypermarket expansion in the Moscow and Central regions.
The total capital investment in the new distribution centre is approximately RUB 2 bln. Currently centralization ratio for supermarkets is around 65%. To maximise transportation efficiency, stores served by the new distribution centre will be supplied using Lenta’s own dedicated truck fleet.
Including this new distribution centre, Lenta’s distribution centres now have capacity to serve a total of over 250 hypermarkets and over 250 supermarkets. Lenta plans to continue to expand its national supply chain infrastructure to support further growth in the number of stores and selling space in the future.
Lenta’s Chief Executive Officer, Jan Dunning commented:
“Our supermarket format, which allows us to reach more customers in more locations, has proved to be extremely efficient and has delivered high sales densities and strong like-for-like growth. Opening this new distribution centre to serve the Moscow and Central regions is important to ensure this efficiency is maintained as we strive to meet the continuing demand for supermarkets in Moscow. We have opened 34 supermarkets in Moscow since 2013 and we see considerable potential for further expansion in the city and other locations over time.”

About Lenta
Lenta is the largest hypermarket chain in Russia (in terms of selling space) and the country’s fifth largest retail chain (in terms of 2015 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 161 hypermarkets in 75 cities across Russia and 43 supermarkets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with a total of approximately 997,460 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 5,900 sq.m. The average Lenta supermarket store has selling space of approximately 1,000 sq.m. The Company operates seven owned distribution centres.
The Company’s price-led hypermarket formats are differentiated in terms of their promotion and pricing strategies as well as their local product assortment. The Company employed approximately 34,134 people as of 30 June 2016 ¹.
The Company’s management team combines a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta’s largest shareholders include TPG Capital and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both of which are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Lenta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange and trades under the ticker: ‘LNTA’.

A brief video summary on Lenta’s business and its Big Data initiative canbe seen here.

For further information please visit www.lentainvestor.com, or contact:

Lenta
Anna Meleshina,
Public Relations & Government Affairs Director
Tel: +7 812 363 28 53
E-mail: anna.meleshina@lenta.com

Anastasia Kuznetsova,
Corporate Communications Manager
Ňel:+7 (812) 336 39 97
E-mail: a.kuznetsova@lenta.com

Citigate
International Media:
David Westover
Ňel: +44 207 282 2886
E-mail: lentateam@citigatedr.co.uk

FTI Consulting
Russian Media:
Anton Karpov & Victoria Afonina
Ňel:+7 495 795 06 23
E-mail: lenta@FTIconsulting.com

¹FTE (full-time equivalent). Average FTE for 1H 2016 was 33,758 employees