OREANDA-NEWS. Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce the opening of its 5th hypermarket in the Moscow Region.

The new store is a Lenta Compact format hypermarket located in the Uzhnoportovy district of Moscow. The store has a total area of 7,400 sq.m, with 4,600 sq.m. of selling space and is open from 9 am to 2 am, seven days a week. A broad product assortment of approximately 20,000 SKUs has been selected specifically for residents of Moscow and includes Lenta's private label and federal product ranges alongside local produce. The store has over 1,000 parking spaces and 31 cash registers. The property is leased by Lenta.

Jan Dunning, Chief Executive Officer of Lenta, said:

"With our 31st hypermarket opening of the year, Lenta has significantly exceeded its guidance of 24 hypermarket openings in 2014, set when our IPO was announced in February. Including 14 new supermarkets, Lenta added approximately 195,000 sqm of new selling space in 2014, 49% more than we added in 2013 and a record high for Lenta. Total selling space increased by 39% during the year and is approximately 701,000 sqm as of 31 December 2014.

One of the keys to Lenta's success is our unique business formula with proven capability to deliver sustained rapid sales increases through a combination of new store expansion and like-for-like growth. As of December 2014 about 28% of total selling space is less than a year old and 59% is younger than 3 years. Going forward, like-for-like sales dynamics will be supported by maturing of these younger stores and the entry of new stores into the like-for-like panel.

We continue to expand our geographic coverage, roughly half of the new selling space additions during 2014 were spread among 15 cities where Lenta was not previously present. Lenta also more than tripled selling space in the strategically important Moscow region, where we added 4 hypermarkets and 14 supermarkets."

Through this new store in Moscow, Lenta expands its network in the Moscow Region to 5 hypermarkets and 24 supermarkets. The total number of Lenta stores now stands at 108 hypermarkets in 60 cities across Russia and 24 supermarkets in the Moscow region.

Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country's second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2013 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 108 hypermarkets in 60 cities across Russia and 24 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region, with a total of approximately 701,150 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of 6,200 sq.m. The Company operates four hypermarket distribution centres.

The Company's price-led hypermarket formats are differentiated in terms of their promotion and pricing strategies as well as their local product assortment. The Company employed approximately 27,800 people as of 31 December 2013.

The Company's management team combines a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta's largest shareholders include TPG Capital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and VTB Capital Private Equity, all of whom are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Lenta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange and trades under the ticker: 'LNTA'.