St. Petersburg, Russia; 27 September 2018– Lenta (LSE, MOEX: LNTA), one of the largest retail chains in Russia, will continue using technology from North Analytics to select the best new store locations and evaluate potential acquisition targets.

The capability to correctly evaluate future performance of potential store locations provides an important edge in the modern food retail market. Lenta already uses North Analytics algorithms to predict potential hypermarket and supermarket revenues. In 2019, the technologies will go mobile to allow Lenta’s staff to assess locations while in the field and reduce the time required to make decisions on high-potential locations. Further cooperation with North Analytics will help Lenta improve the efficiency of its network strategy.

Lenta’s Chief Financial Officer Jago Lemmens said:

“Every new store location is rigorously reviewed against several ROI indicators and our network expansion goals. We will continue using North Analytics innovative tools, which are constantly updated via machine learning to improve accuracy and quality of such analyses.”

Jim Quallen, CEO of North Analytics, said:

“Lenta is one of the largest retailers in Russia. We are excited to continue our partnership with Lenta as they execute their strategy of entering new cities and actively growing within the regions where they have an established presence. Our solutions combine cutting-edge analytics with Lenta’s extensive operational data to deliver quality insights and maximise return on new store investment.”

About Lenta

Lenta is the largest hypermarket chain in Russia (in terms of selling space) and the country’s third largest retail chain (in terms of 2017 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 233 hypermarkets in 84 cities across Russia and 120 supermarkets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Siberia, Urals and the Central region with a total of approximately 1,409,348 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 5,600 sq.m. The average Lenta supermarket store has selling space of approximately 800 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 50,600 people as of 30 June 2018¹.

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 can be seen here.

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

Lenta
Maria Filippova
Public Relations and Government Affairs Manager
Tel.: +7 812 380-61-31 ext.: 1892
E-mail: maria.filippova@lenta.com

NW Advisors
Russian Media
Anton Karpov & Victoria Afonina
Ňel:+7 495 795 06 23
E-mail: lenta@nwadvisors.com

¹ FTE (full-time equivalent). Average FTE for 1H2018 was 49,643 employees.