St-Petersburg, Russia; 21 July, 2016– Lenta Ltd, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA / “Lenta” or the “Company”) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the Company’s consolidated sales and operating results for the second quarter ended 30 June 2016.

To view the full release, please click here.

2Q 2016 Operating Highlights:

• Total sales grew 21.8% in 2Q 2016 to Rub 73.6bn (2Q 2015: Rub 60.4bn);
• Like-for-like (“LFL”)¹ sales growth of 4.9% vs. 2Q 2015;
• LFL traffic growth of 1.4% combined with a 3.4% increase in LFL ticket;
• Five hypermarkets and four supermarkets opened during the second quarter of 2016;
• Total store count reached 189 stores as at 30 June 2016, comprising 147 hypermarkets and 42 supermarkets;
• Total selling space increased to 922,865 sq.m. as at 30 June 2016 (+22.8% vs. 30 June 2015); and
• Number of active loyalty cardholders² increased to 9.3m (+23% y-o-y) with approximately 93% of transactions in the second quarter made using the loyalty card.

1H 2016 Operating Highlights:

• Total sales grew 21.9% in 1H 2016 to Rub 140.1bn (1H 2015: Rub 114.9bn);
• LFL sales growth of 5.2% vs. 1H 2015;
• LFL traffic growth of 2.1% combined with a 3.0% increase in LFL ticket;
• Eight hypermarkets and 10 supermarkets opened during the first half of 2016;

Material events in 2Q 2016 and after the reported period:

• Lenta agreed a Rub 53bn credit limit with Sberbank, providing access to new long-term loans of up to RUB 25bn for a period of up to 5 years;
• Lenta registered an Exchange Bond programme for up to a total maximum principal amount of RUB 100bn;
• Fitch Ratings has upgraded Lenta’s Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) from ‘BB-’ to ‘BB’ and National Long-term rating from ‘AA-(rus)’ to ‘A+(rus)’. The outlook on the ratings is stable.

Lenta’s Chief Executive Officer, Jan Dunning commented:

“We are pleased with the results of the second quarter of 2016 – 21.8% sales growth with 4.9% LFL sales growth despite the rapid fall in food inflation since the beginning of the year and the high base for comparison of the second quarter of 2015.

The consumer environment continues to be challenging due to the impact of continuing low wage growth on purchasing power. More positively, lower food inflation combined with the attractiveness of Lenta’s offer to consumers led to further stabilization of purchasing trends with product mix improving for the first time since 2014 and the average number of articles per basket increasing for the second quarter in a row.

We successfully continued expansion of our hypermarket format and accelerated rolling-out of our supermarket format in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. In the first half of the year we opened more supermarkets than in the full year of 2015. We also continued developing infrastructure for the supermarket format and plan to start operations in a new dedicated supermarket distribution centre in Moscow during 3Q 2016.

We are well on track to deliver at least 40 new hypermarkets this year, exceeding our ambitious target of doubling selling space in three years by December 2016. We have already secured most of the sites required to meet our hypermarket opening goals for 2017 and continue to be selective in choosing the best investment opportunities.”

To view the full release, please click here.

For further information please visit https://www.lentainvestor.com/en/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
Òel:+7 (812) 336 39 97
E-mail: a.kuznetsova@lenta.com

David Westover
Senior Director
+44 207 282 2886 desk
+44 7768 897722 mobile
David.westover@citigatedr.co.uk

Marina Zakharova
Director
+44 207 282 1079 desk
+44 7774 256545
Marina.zakharova@citigatedr.co.uk

¹Lenta’s stores are included in the LFL store base starting 12 months after the end of the month in which they are opened
² Cardholders who made at least 2 purchases at Lenta during the 12 months to 30 June 2016 are considered active