Press release
21 February 2022
 

O'KEY CONSOLIDATES ITS POSITION IN MOSCOW REGION

O'KEY Group S.A. (LSE, MOEX: OKEY, the "Group" or the "Company"), one of Russia's largest food retailers, has announced the expansion of its hypermarket business in the Moscow region.

All materials published by the Group are available on its website www.okeygroup.lu.

As part of a strategy to improve the efficiency of its hypermarket business and home in on the development in key regions of operation, the Group has signed an agreement with X5 Group to acquire and lease four Karusel hypermarkets in the Moscow metropolitan area, namely in the cities of Klin, Voskresensk, Sergiyev Posad, and Moskovsky. As a result of the deal the number of O'KEY stores in Russia's Central Federal District reached 25 (of which 18 are located in Moscow and the Moscow region). The selling space of the new stores, which take up 25,7 sq m both as standalone and mall-based stores, totals 14,900 sq m.     

Over the course of 1H 2022, the Karusel stores will be replaced with O'KEY hypermarkets with the selling space of 3,000 to 4,000 sq m. The emphasis will be on a rich and well-balanced selection of goods and a high-quality shopping experience. The stores will offer more than 30,000 food and non-food SKUs, including a wide range of fresh and ultra-fresh products. Customers will also get to enjoy fresh bread and pastries from the chain's own bakery, shop in the ready-to-eat section, and self-checkout to save time.

The Company expects the new O'KEY hypermarkets will foster the region's retail development for the benefit of consumers, suppliers and other market players.
 

Armin Burger, Chief Executive Officer at O'KEY Group, commented:

"As announced previously, we are continuing to develop the O'KEY hypermarket business in the Moscow region, which holds much strategic value and promise for the chain. We expect this deal and subsequent store openings to have a positive effect on the Group's performance in the medium term. Hypermarkets remain one of the pillars of the Group's business, and they will always stay competitive thanks to the large variety of goods on offer, excellent service, and strong value-for-money proposition."
 

ABOUT O'KEY GROUP

As of 31 December, 2021, the Group operated 230 stores across Russia (78 hypermarkets and 152 discounters) with total selling space of 625,572 square meters. The company opened its first hypermarket in St. Petersburg in 2002 and has since demonstrated continuous growth. O'KEY was the first Russian food retailer to launch e-commerce operations in St. Petersburg and Moscow, offering a full range of hypermarket products for home delivery. The Group has seven e-commerce pick-up points in Moscow and six e-commerce pick-up points in St. Petersburg. In 2015, the Group launched the first discount chain in Russia under the DA! brand. The Group operates five distribution centres in Russia - three in Moscow and two in St. Petersburg. The Group employs more than 20,000 people. In 2020, Group's revenue amounted to RUB 174.3 billion, while EBITDA reached RUB 14.8 billion. The O'KEY shareholder structure is as follows: NISEMAX Co Ltd - 43.20%, GSU Ltd - 30.03%, free float and other holders - 26.77%.

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