Retailer Dixy's results

Dixy Group reported a loss for 2008 after the ruble's decline against the dollar led to a revaluation of dollar-denominated debt, according to a statement posted on the retailer's web site on Wednesday. The net loss was 324.1 million rubles ($10.2 million), compared with a profit of 429.1 million rubles the year before, the statement said. Revenue increased 32 percent to 48.3 billion rubles, helped by the opening of 111 new stores. Dixy, Russia's third-largest publicly traded food retailer, recorded a foreign exchange loss of 1.1 billion rubles for 2008. The company's dollar-denominated debt totaled $165 million at the end of last year, according to UralSib's estimates. The ruble lost 16 percent against the dollar last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization climbed 38 percent to 2.8 billion rubles, the company said in a separate e-mailed statement Wednesday. Profitability on that basis widened by 0.2 percentage points to 5.8 percent of sales. Dixy rose 3 percent to 126.72 rubles on the MICEX. The shares have more than doubled this year, giving the company a market value of 7.6 billion rubles ($340 million).

Revenue growth trailed that of larger competitor Magnit, whose sales climbed 45 percent in 2008. Dixy expects sales to rise between 20 percent and 25 percent in ruble terms this year, according to the statement. Prosperity Capital Management has raised its stake in the company to 15 percent, Interfax reported Tuesday. "Earnings are fully in line with expectations," said Alexei Krivoshapko, a director at Prosperity Capital. "More important is what will happen this year." Dixy's new computer system disrupted logistics, which led to lower levels of service and sales growth in the central region, and it is important to see how this issue is addressed, he said.

Source: Bloomberg