X5 Retail Group NV, an operator of grocery stores in Russia, said Oct. 12 net retail sales in the third quarter jumped 24.9% year over year, driven mainly by a robust performance at neighborhood discount chain Pyaterochka.

The operator of supermarkets and hypermarkets said net retail sales for the three months ended Sept. 30 rose to 317.13 billion rubles from 253.98 billion rubles a year earlier. Net retail sales comprise revenue from stores managed by X5 excluding value-added tax. X5 did not report revenue figures.

Like-for-like sales rose 4.6% despite a year-over-year decline in food-price inflation, X5 said.

Pyaterochka saw net retail sales jump 28.8%. Like-for-like sales rose 4.0%. Selling space for the format expanded by 34.1%, fuelling a 28.5% jump in customer traffic. Pyaterochka accounted for 79% of X5's net retail sales in the quarter.

Perekrestok, which operates supermarkets, saw net retail sales growth of 18.1%. This was driven mainly by like-for-like sales growth of 9.9%, which was the highest among the group companies. Perekrestok accounted for 13% of overall net retail sales.

Hypermarkets operator Karusel reported net retail sales growth of 3.8%, including a 2.5% increase in like-for-like sales. The format suffered a 2.6% drop in customer traffic due to unfavorable weather conditions as well as a rise in outbound tourism from major metropolitan areas. Karusel represented 6.5% of overall net retail sales.

Express convenience stores reported a 13.7% net sales drop after suffering an 8.4% fall in like-for-like sales and an 11.1% decline in customer traffic.

To support customer traffic, X5 said it implemented promotional campaigns and boosted efforts to improve operational efficiency.

X5 added 820 stores in the third quarter and expanded selling space by 27.8%.

The company is scheduled to report third-quarter and nine-month results in full on Oct. 19.

As of Oct. 11, US$1 was equivalent to 57.91 Russian rubles.