X5 Retail Regulatory News (FIVE)

10 Jul 2007 18:24

X5 Retail Group N.V.10 July 2007 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN, INTO OR FROM AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN 10 July 2007 X5 Retail Group RUB 9 Billion Bond Issue Moscow, July 10, 2007 - Today, X5 Retail Group, the largest Russian retailchain, successfully placed its first RUB 9 billion (USD 350 million) bond atMICEX. The bond was 1.6 times over-subscribed, with investor demand representingRUB14.5 billion. The first coupon rate was set by auction at placement at 7.60%p.a. and accordingly the yield to a 3-year put-option amounts to 7.74% p.a. ZAO Raiffeisenbank Austria and Bank VTB were mandated Lead Managers of theIssue. The Lead Co-arranger is ABN AMRO Bank. Co-arrangers are Citibank, SocieteGenerale Vostok, International Moscow Bank and Bank of Moscow. The Underwriters of the issue are Svyaz-Bank, WestLB Vostok, ING Bank (Eurasia), NOVIKOM-Bank. Co-underwriters are Commerzbank (Eurasija), Deutsche Bank,Dresdner Bank, Credit Suisse, Rosbank, Khanty-Masniisky Bank, HSCB, EuropeanTrust Bank and Uralsib. The 7-year bond pays semiannual coupons. Coupons 1 to 6 are equal and amount to7.60% p.a., the rest to be defined by the issuer later. The issue has anembedded 3 year put option at par. The funds raised by the bonds will be used for refinancing of the existing bondissues of the Group (Pyaterochka First and Second bond issues and PerekrestokFirst bond issue). Dmitriy Milshtein, Group Head of Treasury commented: "We are very pleased with the terms of the issue and the high level of demandfor our bonds, which demonstrates the confidence of the investment community inour company. The success of the issue clearly shows the support of the marketfor X5's investment strategy." Vitaliy Podolskiy, the Group CFO, said: "This issue, together with the restructuring of the Group's previous bond issuesallows us to significantly improve our borrowing structure and reduce our debtservicing costs" - End - Note to Editors: X5 Retail Group N.V. (Moody's - "B1", S&P - "BB-") is Russia's largest foodretailer in terms of sales. As of 30 June 2007, the Group had 539company-managed "Pyaterochka" soft discount stores located in the Moscow (241),St. Petersburg (223) and other Russian areas (75), and 170 company managed"Perekrestok" supermarkets across Central Russia and Ukraine, including 98stores in Moscow. As of 30 June 2007, franchisees operated 591 Pyaterochka branded stores acrossRussia and Kazakhstan. Perekrestok had 10 stores operated by franchisees in theMoscow area. Pyaterochka and Perekrestok have merged their operations as of 18 May 2006 tocreate the clear leader in the Russian food retail market. The Group's audited pro-forma net sales for the FY 2006 were US $3,551 million,up +50% vs. 2005. Pyaterochka chain provided US $1,973 million of net sales, thePerekrestok chain contributed US $1,496 million of net sales, and Merkado chaincontributed US $ 82 million. Forward looking statements: This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identifiedby the fact that they do not only relate to historical or current events.Forward-looking statements often use words such as" anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "expected", "plan", "goal" believe", or otherwords of similar meaning. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty becausethey relate to future events and circumstances, a number of which are beyond X5Retail Group N.V.'s control. As a result, actual future results may differmaterially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in theseforward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of X5 Retail Group N.V.speak only as at the date of this announcement. Save as required by anyapplicable laws or regulations, X5 Retail Group N.V. undertakes no obligationpublicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-lookingstatements in this document that may occur due to any change in its expectationsor to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document. Enquiries to: X5 Retail Group N.V. Gennady Frolov Head of Corporate Communications Office +7 495 950 5577 ext. 10130 Mobile +7 495 998 3335 Email gennady.frolov@x5.ru This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange