Russia supermarket

In Russia, Magnit has announced that net retail revenue jumped 26.3 per cent through August as the retailer continued to defy the economic downturn.

Net sales for the month totalled RUB14.8bn (€327.6m), the group said in a statement, although in dollar terms sales fell 3.6 per cent.

Net sales for the eight-month period to August 2009 amounted to RUB107.8bn (€2.4bn), a year-on-year increase of 31.9 per cent, while the group launched 349 new stores through the period.

Last month, Magnit reported on a successful first-half of 2009, with group profit soaring by 147 per cent to hit RUB3.9bn (€87.2m), up from RUB1.6bn (€35.8m) in 2008.