VTB Group Increases X5 Retail Group's Credit Line to RUR 9 Billion
10 Feb 2009
Amsterdam, 10 February 2009 - X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest retailer in terms of sales
(LSE ticker: “FIVE”), announced today that VTB Group has increased its credit lines to the
Company from RUR 7 billion to RUR 9 billion, with the additional RUR 2 billion to be provided
by the bank’s subsidiary VTB North-West.
As a result, the total amount of undrawn credit lines available to X5 Retail Group now exceeds
RUR 13 billion. This, in combination with the cash balance fully covers X5’s short-term liquidity
needs, as the Company’s short-term debt as at 31 December 2008 totaled RUR 17 billion (USD
581 million at year-end RUR/USD rate of 29.38).
Evgeny Kornilov, X5 Retail Group CFO, commented:
“We welcome VTB’s decision to increase its credit line to X5 Retail Group by a further RUR
2 billion. This recognizes our actions to strengthen the Company’s financial position and reflects
the Russian government’s continued strong support of the retail sector of the economy.
“Over the past few months, X5 has used its healthy cash generation to reduce leverage - the
Company’s Net Debt/EBITDA ratio has decreased from 3.2x a year ago to below 2.5x today -
while increased availability of credit resources provides additional comfort with respect to shortterm
liquidity management. We are also pleased to report that our short-term FX exposure has
been virtually eliminated thanks to dollar-denominated debt repayment and USD cash
accumulation. Going forward, we expect that our successful multi-format business strategy,
strong cash generating capacity, prudent approach towards capital expenditures and efficient cost
controls will result in additional resources for strengthening X5’s balance sheet and deleveraging
efforts.”
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