New stores are now open in Noginsk and Fryazino

St-Petersburg, Russia; 29 April 2014 – Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the opening of two new supermarkets implementing its plans of expansion in the Moscow region. 

The new stores of a supermarket format have been opened in the towns of Noginsk and Fryazino. Both stores are located in densely populated areas with good pedestrian and transport links. The stores have selling space of 1,300 sq m and 1,200 sq m respectively. Each of the stores has 50 car parking spaces and 10-11 cash registers helping to provide customers with seamless shopping experience.

The supermarkets’ assortment includes circa 6,200 SKUs with a special emphasis on a variety of fresh and locally produced goods. Like in all other Lenta stores customers of the new supermarkets will take advantage of the loyalty cards and Lenta’s private labels.

The stores are open from 8:00 am to 11:00 pm every day. Both supermarkets are rented.

The opening of Lenta’s two new supermarkets in the Moscow Region brings the total number of stores to 80 hypermarkets and 12 supermarkets.

Jan Dunning, Chief Executive Officer of Lenta, commented:
“Last year Lenta entered the market of Moscow and the Moscow region with the launch of a supermarket format. We wanted to see how efficient this new format would become in comparison to our traditional hypermarket format, how attractive we will be able to make the value for money offering in Moscow where the market is very well developed.

We are confident that combining two formats has improved our business-model. Today revenue per square meter in our supermarkets is almost on par with the same figure in our hypermarkets. The opening of a distribution center in Moscow region in autumn 2013 played a significant role allowing us to build effective logistics chain tailored for the supermarkets and ensuring low prices for our customers. In the first quarter of 2014 more than 1.7 mln customers have visited our first ten supermarkets, which were opened in 2013.

In 2014 we plan to open a total of 15 and 24 hypermarkets across Russia.”

About Lenta
Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country’s second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2013 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 80 hypermarkets in 45 cities across Russia and 12 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region, with a total of approximately 528,500 sq.m. of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 6,400 sq.m. The Company operates four distribution centres that service hypermarkets and one dedicated to supermarkets.

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 27,800 people as of 31 December 2013.

The Company’s management team boasts a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta’s largest shareholders include TPG Capital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and VTB Capital Private Equity, all of whom 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’.

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

Yana Mogileva, PR Manager
Òel:+7 (812) 336 39 97
E-mail: yana.mogileva@lenta.com

Instinctif Partners
International Media:
Mark Walter and Tony Frend
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Russian Media:
Anton Karpov
Òål.:+7 495 660 05 91
E-mail: Anton.Karpov@instinctif.com

Leonid Fink
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