OREANDA-NEWS. January 29, 2015. Detsky Mir Group (Detsky Mir or the Group), Russia's largest children's goods retailer, has released its unaudited operating results for year ended 31 December 2014.  

Key operating results for 2014

The Group's revenue has increased by 26.2%, to RUB 45.4bn vs RUB 36.0bn in 2013.

Detsky Mir's like-for-like sales grew 13.6% (with the number of tickets growing by 7.9%, and the average ticket growing by 5.3%);

The number of the Group's stores reached 322 with a total selling floor space of c.390,000 sq m. In 2014, the Group opened 72 new stores, out of which 562 were Detsky Mir super- and hypermarkets and 16 ELC stores;

The Group's CEO became a minority shareholder of OJSC Detsky Mir with a 1.08% stake (7,984,499 shares).

Vladimir Chirakhov, CEO of Detsky Mir Group:

"Detsky Mir continues to implement its strategy for improving business efficiency. The main operational improvements introduced in 2013 had a positive impact on the 2014 results.

In 2014, the Group opened 72 new stores, which is the chain's all-time high. We opened 56 new Detsky Mir stores and 16 ELC stores, thereby exceeding our stated target for the year. We continued introducing the new concept of stores that was first presented in the MEGA Belaya Dacha shopping mall in December 2013. All Detsky Mir stores that opened in 2014 were based on the new concept. In addition, ten of the chain's biggest stores were reconstructed and refurbished to fit the new concept. In 2014 Detsky Mir also opened its flagship store at Vozdvizhenka in the centre of Moscow. Within two weeks of opening, the 7,000 sq m hypermarket had the biggest number of visitors among the chain's stores and eventually became the largest revenue generator.

The company's revenue in 2014 grew by 26% YoY. The high growth rate largely results from high LFL sales: LFL totalled 13.6%, mostly due to the growth in the number of tickets by 7.9%. For comparison, LFL sales growth in 2013 was 13.4%. So the Detsky Mir chain continues to grow at a double digit race, which, given the deteriorating macroeconomic situation, is yet another proof that we have chosen the right business strategy."