Dixy plans to invest 50 bln rubles doubling no. of stores in 3 yrs
MOSCOW. March 4 (Interfax) - The retail chain OJSC Dixy Group plans to invest 50 billion rubles over the next three years to double the number of outlets it has, the group's president, Ilya Yakubson, has told Interfax.
This means that Dixy could have up to three thousand stores by the end of 2015, Yakubson said. At least eighty will be opened in St. Petersburg this year.
During the coming three years, the company plans to increase its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin to 7%-8% from the 5.6% of third-quarter 2012.
As this year began, Dixy was operating a chain of 1,495 stores, including 1,388 Dixy outlets, 76 Victoria stores, one cash and carry store, and thirty 'compact hypermarkets' branded as Megamart and Minimart.
Dixy is developing Dixy, Minimart, Victoria, Megamart, and discounters Dyoshevo and Kvartal.
The company opened 425 stores last year, including 410 Dixys, two Dyoshevos and Kvartals (these formats being developed in Kaliningrad Region), nine Victoria supermarkets, and three Minimarts.
The controlling stock interest in the company group - 54.4% - belongs to Igor Kesayev's multifaceted holding Mercury, and around 36.6% of the company's stock is in free float on the MICEX-RTS exchange.