Moscow, Oct 28 - Russian discount food store chain Dixy reported a 45 percent jump in nine-month revenue on Tuesday, and said it was dropping a London share offer because of the financial market crisis.
Revenue rose to $1.44 billion in dollar terms from $989 million in the same period of 2007, and was up 35 percent in rouble terms, the company said in a statement.
Consumer sales in Russia have continued to demonstrate strength in recent month despite fears of a slowdown.
Like-for-like sales rose by 25.9 percent in dollar terms and around 17 percent in rouble terms.
"The company continues to develop according to plan, in spite of the crisis on the financial markets," the statement quoted Dixy Group President Vitaly Klyuchnikov as saying.
"Before the year-end we intend to open more then 50 new stores, which were financed, for the most part, during the last several months."
However the company's chief executive, Fyodor Rybasov, told Reuters that plans for a London share offer have been scrapped.
"We are deferring the placement because of unfavourable market conditions," he said.
Dixy is controlled by businessman Igor Kesayev through his Mercury holding company, which owns 51 percent of Dixy Group. As of Sept. 30, the group operated 425 stores.
In August, its shareholders approved an issue of 26 million new shares through an open subscription including in the form of Global Depositary Receipts on the London Stock Exchange.
Sources had said the offering would take place in October or November 2008 and that the company hoped to raise between $300 million and $400 million.
Now that the listing has been scrapped, the shares could instead be placed among Dixy's existing shareholders, a source close to Dixy's top managers said.
The source said the main shareholder, the Mercury holding company, "was ready to support the company" and buy out all the shares left after other existing shareholders exercise their pre-emptive rights to buy into the issue.
Dixy said it had opened 53 stores in the year to Oct. 27, in line with its plan approved at the start of 2008.