X5 Retail Regulatory News (FIVE)

1 Feb 2007 15:45

X5 Retail Group N.V.01 February 2007 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN X5 Retail Group N.V. announces rur 25 billion bond issue Amsterdam, 1 February 2007 - X5 Retail Group N.V. (LSE ticker: "FIVE"), Russia'sleading grocery retailer announced today the decision of X5 Finance, asubsidiary of X5 Retail Group N.V., to issue RUR 25 billion Callable Bonds due2014 (the "Bonds") in three tranches. The coupon rates, payable semi-annually,will be defined at the auction on the date of issue. The net proceeds of the first tranche (RUR 9 billion) planned for March 2007will be applied towards refinancing of existing debt. The rest of the proceedswill be used both to refinance existing debt and fund its store expansion. OAO Vneshtorgbank, ZAO "Raiffeisenbank Austria" and ABN AMRO Bank ZAO, areappointed by the Company as the Lead Managers of the "X5 Finance" bond issue. Vitaliy Podolskiy, Group CFO , commented on this programme: "This bond issue isintended to meet the two main objectives for this year - to improve our debtstructure by converting our foreign currency debt into the Ruble zone andextending its maturity while at the same time taking advantage of favorablemarket conditions to lower our funding costs as well as to provide sufficientfunding to support our aggressive organic growth plans in the Russian market" - End - Note to Editors: X5 Retail Group N.V. is Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales. As of31 December 2006, the Group had 451 company-managed "Pyaterochka" soft discountstores located in the Moscow (222), St. Petersburg (204) and Yekaterinburg (25)areas, and 168 company-managed "Perekrestok" supermarkets across Central Russiaand Ukraine, including 100 stores in Moscow. As of 31 December 2006, franchisees operated 605 Pyaterochka branded storesacross Russia, in Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Perekrestok had 10 convenience storesoperated by franchisees in the Moscow area. Pyaterochka and Perekrestok have merged their operations as of 18 May 2006 tocreate the clear leader in the Russian food retail market. Pyaterochka's 2005 net sales (pre-merger) reached USD 1,359 million, with grossbanner sales in 2005 of over USD 2 billion. Perekrestok net sales reached USD1,015 million in 2005. The Group's pro forma net sales for the 9 months of 2006 were US $2,411 million(management accounts). During 1H 2006, the Pyaterochka chain provided US $1,374million of net sales, while the Perekrestok chain contributed US $1,037 millionof net sales. 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 +7 495 984 6956 ext.2093 Mobile +7 495 998 3335 Email gennady.frolov@x5.ru http://www.x5.ru This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange