For the first few years, Magnet was able to overtake the rate of growth in quarterly revenue of the nearest competitor X5 Retail Group. The performance of companies increased by 18.5% and 15.6%, respectively. In the “Magnet” is associated with a dynamics record from the end of 2016 traffic growth of 4% and an increase in comparable average ticket, which influenced the purchase for future use on the background COVID-19. Analysts expect preservation of high rates of growth “Magnet” to the end of the year.In the first quarter, the revenue of “Magnet” grew by 18.5% to 376 billion roubles year-on-year, the company said. The rate of growth of turnover of “Magnet” ahead of its nearest competitor X5 Retail Group (“Pyaterochka”, “Perekrestok”, “Karusel”), revenue of which increased by 15.6% to 468,99 billion RUB In “Magnet” said that the revenue was affected by the rise in the trade area 8.3% increase in comparable (LFL) sales up 7.8%. The increase in net retail sales accelerated from 12% in January to 21% in March despite a slowdown in the growth of the trade area from 11.2% to 8.3% respectively, the company said.It added that the acceleration of growth of sales in March contributed to a significant increase in LFL check associated with shopping in store. So, LFL traffic “Magnet” increased by 4%, which was the highest result since the fourth quarter of 2016. LFL average check increased by 3.7%. According to the President, the Director of “Magnet” by Jan Dunning, the company recorded positive LFL sales growth in all formats for the first time in more than five years. EBITDA “the Magnet” in the first quarter grew by 21.4% to 22.7 billion rubles, and net profit by 30.8%, to 4.2 billion rubles For comparison: EBITDA X5 for the same period increased by 11.8% to 56.76 billion rubles, and net profit decreased by 52% to RUB 4 billion. the Senior analyst of “Aton” Victor Dima says that “Magnet” did not show such growth in 2013. The development of the situation in the following quarters will depend on the depth of falling of demand for grocery chains, the negative effect will cushion the closure of cafes and restaurants, which some consumers will go for cooking at home, he says. For “Magnet”, the analyst continues, unlike the X5, also has a low base effect: the long lost network traffic and improved offer today watching return of the buyers.Low base of the previous years, the improvement of assortment, introduction of loyalty programs, etc. will allow “Magnet” keep higher than the X5, the pace of revenue growth to the end of the year, predicts senior analyst of Gazprombank Marat Ibragimov. According to him, investors were waiting for positive changes in the market and now expect active inflow of funds into shares of the company. By 11:00 Moscow GDR “Magnet” on the London stock exchange rose in price by 3.86% to $10,23 per receipt.A small number of confirmed or launched object will be opened in a few months. After stab��the implementation situation and the lifting of restrictions open and updates will be resumed, the company said. The forecast capital cost can also be reduced. In the first quarter, Magnit has opened 321 stores, closed 186 points and updated the 214 objects in the format of “at home”. At the end of March “Magnet” ran 20.8 thousand of shops, X5 is 16.65 thousand points.Anatoly Kostyriv
