Russia’s largest grocery retailer Magnit plans to agressively expand in 2015 despite a slump in fourth-quarter profits on a weakened ruble.
Net income fell 21.5% over the fourth quarter to US$284.3m (£187.3m). Net sales declined 6.7% over the period to $4.67bn (£3.07bn).
During the full year net income increased 10.25% to $1.2bn (£790m) as sales jumped 9.18% to $18.2bn (£11.9bn).
Despite the issues with the ruble, the supermarket operator plans a record number of store openings for 2015. It plans to open 2,000 stores, compared with 1,600 in 2014.
Magmit chief executive Sergey Galitskiy said: “Material FX losses impacted our financial results. However, we did achieve a record high EBITDA margin.
“We have the lowest debt burden and a strong management team, which will allow us to continue aggressive expansion despite the instability in the marketplace. We have set ambitious store opening plans and we are confident in their fulfilment”.
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