Lenta Ltd Lenta assigned Fitch 'BB-' rating with + outlook (6270R)
30 June 2015 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMLNTR TIDMLNTA
RNS Number : 6270R
Lenta Ltd
30 June 2015
Fitch Ratings assigns Lenta a 'BB-' rating with a positive
outlook and a 'A+(rus)' rating
Saint-Petersburg, Russia; 30 June 2015 - Lenta LLC, the main
operating subsidiary of Lenta Ltd. ("Lenta" or the "Company"),
acknowledges that Fitch Ratings has assigned Lenta LLC with
long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings ("IDL")
of 'BB-' and a National Long-term rating of 'A+(rus)', both with a
positive outlook.
The ratings reflect Lenta's strong position in the modern food
retail market in Russia, its resilient operational performance, its
profitability and the Company's ability to grow its share of the
Russian food retail market. The ratings are supported by Lenta's
low leverage and its financial flexibility. Fitch believes that
Lenta's price-led business model and its low concentration of
discretionary non-food items, will help Lenta to maintain healthy
like-for like sales growth despite the current economic slowdown in
Russia.
Lenta's Chief Financial Officer, Jago Lemmens commented:
"Lenta is pleased to have received a national investment grade
credit rating and a 'BB-' IDL rating in the current economic
circumstances. The ratings reflect the success of Lenta's business
model and the prudent financing of our growth plans. All of our
debt is Rouble denominated and 93% of our debt maturities are
long-term. In addition, we have recently further extended
maturities while reducing funding costs.
"The $225 million new primary equity offering Lenta completed in
March 2015 is enabling the company to finance continued rapid
expansion while maintaining a strong balance sheet. The success of
the offering demonstrated the depth of shareholder support for our
strategy. We reiterate our plans to open at least 25 hypermarkets
in 2015. We remain on track to comfortably exceed our long-term
target of doubling selling space in the three years to December
2016."
About Lenta
Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the
country's second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2014
sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta
operates 116 hypermarkets in 62(1) cities across Russia and 27
supermarkets in Moscow, with a total of approximately 751,448 sq.m
of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling
space of approximately 6,200 sq.m. The Company operates five owned
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 35,100
people as of 31 December 2014(2) . 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 and the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, both 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'.
A brief video summary on Lenta's business and its Big Data
initiative can be seen here.
For further information please visit www.lentainvestor.com, or
contact:
Lenta Instinctif Partners
Anna Meleshina, International Media:
Public Relations & Government Mark Walter
Affairs Director el:+44 (0)20 7457 2020
Tel: +7 812 363 28 53 E-mail: Mark.Walter@instinctif.com
E-mail: anna.meleshina@lenta.com
Russian Media:
Yana Mogileva, PR Manager Anton Karpov
el:+7 (812) 336 39 97 el:+7 495 660 05 91
E-mail: yana.mogileva@lenta.com E-mail: Anton.Karpov@instinctif.com
(1) Lenta has changed methodology for calculating number of
cities of presence and since 1 May 2015 all cities located in
Moscow City and the Moscow region are shown as Moscow.
(2) FTE (full-time equivalent). Average FTE for 2014 was 27,200
employees.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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