Moscow, Oct 10 - X5 Retail Group, Russia's largest food retailer by revenue, said on Friday it would cut 2008 capital expenditure by 30 percent to around $1 billion because of the financial crisis.
"We believe that we do all the right things in the current financial crisis environment - we prudently manage our cash flows and have taken decision to scale down capex, focus on highest returns and shortest paybacks and reduce short-term debt exposure," said X5's Chief Financial Officer Evgeny Kornilov.
Its like-for-like sales rose by 21 percent year-on-year in the third quarter on 2008. The sales included recently acquired Karusel on a pro-forma basis.
Net sales increased by 48 percent year-on-year to $2.177 billion on a pro-forma basis, the company said in a statement.