X5 Retail Group, Russia's leading food retailer, has announced that like-for-like sales jumped 21 per cent during the third quarter of the year when compared with 2007.

Net sales increased by 48 per cent during the period, the group said in a statement, hitting US$2.17bn.

Additionally, X5 said that it would cut capital expenditure by 30 per cent to around US$1bn due to the current global economic conditions, Reuters said.

'We believe that we do all the right things in the current financial crisis environment – we prudently manage our cash flows and have taken the decision to scale down capex, focus on highest returns and shortest paybacks and reduce short-term debt exposure,' said group chief financial officer Evgeny Kornilov.