OREANDA-NEWS. Lenta Ltd, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA / "Lenta" or the "Company") one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the Company's consolidated sales and operating results for the third quarter ended 30 September 2014 1.

3Q 2014 Operating Highlights:

Total sales grew 32.9% in 3Q 2014 to Rub 48.5bn (3Q 2013: Rub 36.5bn);

Like-for-like ("LFL")2 sales growth of 8.9% vs. 3Q 2013;

LFL traffic growth of 4.2% combined with a 4.5% increase in LFL average ticket;

Five hypermarkets and two supermarkets opened during the third quarter of 2014;

Total of 103 stores at 30 September 2014, comprising 87 hypermarkets and 16 supermarkets;

Total selling space increased to 569,803 sq.m. as at 30 September 2014 (+37.0% vs. 30 September 2013); and

Active loyalty cardholders3 increased to 6.0m (+35% y-o-y) with approximately 90% of transactions in the third quarter made using the loyalty card.

9M 2014 Operating Highlights:

Total sales grew 36.3% in 9M 2014 to Rub 134.4bn (9M 2013: Rub 98.7bn);

LFL sales growth of 12.0% vs. 9M 2013;

LFL traffic growth of 5.4% combined with a 6.3% increase in LFL average ticket; and

10 hypermarkets and six supermarkets opened during the first nine months of 2014.

Material events in 3Q 2014 and after the reported period

National Rating Agency upgraded credit rating of Lenta LLC (a main operating subsidiary of Lenta Ltd.) under National Scale Rating (Russia) from "AA-" to "AA";

Lenta has signed improved terms of the facility agreement with the EBRD in respect to leverage requirements; and

Lenta has significantly improved terms and conditions of the facility agreement with VTB Capital, relating to security, pricing and leverage requirements.

Lenta's Chief Executive Officer, Jan Dunning commented:

"Lenta continued to implement its growth strategy during the third quarter of the year despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, including recent trade restrictions in Russia for selected product categories, rising food inflation and local currency depreciation. Total sales growth reached 36% for the nine month period through a combination of 12% like-for-like growth and a 37% year-on-year increase in selling space, partially thanks to some store openings that came earlier than planned.

We have continued to build Lenta's development pipeline and look forward to completing our development programme for 2014 with a strong sequence of hypermarket and supermarket openings during November and December. Next year's store opening programme is progressing well and we reconfirm our long-term target of doubling net selling space over the three years to December 2016.

Looking ahead, it is clear that because consumers are having to adapt their behaviour to cope with the changing economic conditions in Russia, we should remain cautious. We are continuing to adapt our offer - reinforcing our strong pricing and promotions and at the same time using insight from the Lenta card - to help our customers spend less."