S&P UPGRADES X5’S RATING TO BB+/STABLE

S&P UPGRADES X5'S RATING TO BB+/STABLE 

Amsterdam, 11 June 2020 - X5 Retail Group N.V. ("X5" or the "Company"), a leading Russian food retailer that operates the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok and Karusel chains (LSE and MOEX ticker: "FIVE"), announces that S&P Global Ratings ("S&P") has upgraded the Company's credit rating to BB+ from BB. The outlook is "Stable".

S&P stated that the upgrade reflects X5's strong operating performance, reduced capital expenditure and lower interest rates.

X5 Chief Financial Officer Svetlana Demyashkevich said: "The S&P credit rating upgrade affirms X5's high credit quality and strong business profile, especially given the current environment. We are particularly pleased to note that this is the only credit rating upgrade in Russia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a great achievement for our team and for X5 as a whole."

Note to Editors:

X5 Retail Group N.V. (LSE and MOEX: FIVE, Fitch - 'BB+', Moody's - 'Ba1', S&P - 'BB+', RAEX - 'ruAA+') is a leading Russian food retailer. The Company operates several retail formats: the chain of proximity stores under the Pyaterochka brand, the supermarket chain under the Perekrestok brand and the hypermarket chain under the Karusel brand.

As of 31 March 2020, X5 had 16,658 Company-operated stores. It has the leading market position in both Moscow and St Petersburg and a significant presence in the European part of Russia. Its store base includes 15,739 Pyaterochka proximity stores, 846 Perekrestok supermarkets and 73 Karusel hypermarkets. The Company operates 42 DCs and 4,098 Company-owned trucks across the Russian Federation.

For the full year 2019, revenue totalled RUB 1,734,347 mln (USD 26,791 mln), Adjusted EBITDA under IAS 17 reached RUB 127,380 mln (USD 1,968 mln), and net profit under IAS 17 for the period amounted to RUB 25,908 mln (USD 400 mln). In Q1 2020, revenue totalled RUB 468,994 mln (USD 7,065 mln), adjusted EBITDA reached RUB 32,980 mln (USD 497 mln), and net profit amounted to RUB 8,175 mln (USD 123 mln).

X5's Shareholder structure is as follows: CTF Holdings S.A. - 47.86%, Intertrust Trustees Ltd (Axon Trust) - 11.43%, X5 Directors - 0.08%, treasury shares - 0.02%, Shareholders with less than 3% - 40.61%.

Forward looking statements:

This announcement includes statements that are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements". These forward-looking statements can be identified by 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 other words of similar meaning.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances, a number of which are beyond X5 Retail Group N.V.'s control. As a result, actual future results may differ materially from the plans, goals and expectations set out in these forward-looking statements.

Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of X5 Retail Group N.V. speak only as of the date of this announcement. Save as required by any applicable laws or regulations, X5 Retail Group N.V. undertakes no obligation publicly to release the results of any revisions to any forward-looking statements in this document that may occur due to any change in its expectations or to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this document.

Elements of this press release contain or may contain inside information about X5 Retail Group N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the Market Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU).