OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2010. OJSC Rosinter Restaurants Holding (Rosinter), the leading casual dining restaurants chain in Russia and CIS (RTS and MICEX ticker: ROST), announced today its unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2010.

1Q 2010 Highlights

• In 1Q 2010 the Company posted total net revenue of RUR 2,266 mln with a growth of 12.8% as compared to 1Q 2009. This was driven mainly by a 2.6% Same Store Sales Growth (L-F-L) and the growing revenue contribution of the many restaurants that opened since second half 2008 which are not included yet in the SSSG measurement.

• Gross Profit at RUR 564 mln, for a gross margin of 24.9% in 1Q 2010 compared with 23.8% in 1Q 2009. Gross profit margin increased by 1.1% mainly driven by a reduction in rent expenses measured as a percentage of revenue.

• Operating Profit at RUR 149 mln, for an operating margin of 6.6% in 1Q 2010 compared with -0.4% in 1Q 2009. Operating Margin increased as a result of two factors, an improvement in operating margin before impairment and a 1.0% reduction of losses from impairment of assets. The improvement of 6.0% in Operating margin before impairment resulted mainly from a combined effect of a 1.1% increase in gross margin, a 1.2% improvement in selling, general and administrative expenses, and a reduction of 2.0% in losses on disposal of non-current assets.

• EBITDA amounted to RUR 247 mln, for an EBITDA margin of 10.9% in 1Q 2010 compared with 4.6% in 1Q 2009. Adjusted EBITDA[1] margin increased to 11.9% in 1Q 2010 from 10.3% in 1Q 2009.

• Net profit at RUR 30 mln, for a Net profit margin of 1.3% in 1Q 2010 compared with net loss of RUR 175 mln in 1Q 2009. Profit growth was driven by improvement in operating performance, supported by a decrease of Foreign exchange losses and income tax, partially offset by an increase of our financial expenses.

• Gross debt decreased by 24.4% to RUR 1,664 mln leading to a Net debt/EBITDA of 1.64 (on a 12-month rolling basis). By 31 March 2010, the Group had achieved a substantially better liquidity position in comparison with 31 December 2009 by decreasing its Net Debt/EBITDA ratio to 1.64 (on 12-month rolling basis) from 2.97 in 2009. Short-term debt component increased to 58.2% as at 31 March 2009 in comparison with 53.1% as at 31 December 2009. Total gross debt decreased by 24.4.0% to RUR 1,664.2 thousand at 31 March 2010 from RUR 2,200.1 thousand at 31 December 2009.

Sergey Beshev, President and CEO, commented:

“In 1Q 2010 we are already delivering on our promise to return to profitability as a result of a stronger guest traffic to our network. So far in 2010, in the organizational front we have incorporated new talent to our top management team in Finance, Victor Shlepov Chief Financial Officer, and in Business development, Michael Beacham Chief Development Officer. We have also initiated the major steps of our internal reorganization that follows best practices in our industry, which will incorporate more efficient processes and lead gradually to an optimization of our support services. In 2010, we will continue building the team and processes needed in the future to keep our leadership in our markets and benefit from the ongoing economic recovery taking advantage of growth opportunities together with our franchise partners.”

Victor Shlepov, CFO, commented:

“In 1Q 2010, following the successful first step of our SPO we have been able to reduce our debt and benefit substantially from the decreasing trends in interest rates in Russia. I want to highlight two ongoing projects that should provide sustainable enhancements to our profitability. In 2010 we will be centralizing many functions that are currently provided locally by our hub city structure, with positive impact in SG&A, and we will be reducing the number of our Russian legal entities which will allow us to have a lower effective tax rate. Both projects are natural steps at this stage and compare favorably with the approach of Russian retailers.”