Russian food retailer Dixy has enjoyed sales and net profit growth during the first half of the year, as the group increased operating income and reduced debt service costs.

During the six-month period, net profit jumped to €8m after a net loss of €3.5m the previous year, while sales rose 49 per cent to €675m, the company said in a statement.

Gross profit for the group hit €164m in the first half, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation grew to €36.4m.

'The results confirm the effectiveness of our strategy, which is not only for expansion of the Dixy Group chain of stores, but also for the improvement in the performance indicators of our company,' said president Vitaly Klyuchnikov in a statement.