argest food retailer Dixy Group (DIXY.MM) said on Wednesday its same-store sales growth slowed in the second quarter as competition increased.The country's food retail chains have expanded rapidly over the past few years and are now facing increased competition for customers who often have a choice between three or four supermarkets in a single street in bigger cities.
Dixy's like-for-like sales - an indicator of performance excluding expansion - grew by 3.5 percent in the second quarter after a 5 percent rise in the preceding period, as it saw an outflow of shoppers with the number of bills down almost 2 percent after a rise of 0.4 percent in the first quarter.
Rival X5 (PJPq.L) recently reported a deeper fall in second quarter customer numbers - by 4 percent, while Magnit (MGNT.MM), which in the first quarter overtook X5 as the country's biggest retailer by sales, recorded a 0.2 percent increase.
Dixy's total first-half sales amounted to 87 billion roubles ($2.69 billion), up 23 percent - or 25 percent when adjusted for a leap year effect as its stores operated two days less in the first half of 2013 than in the same period of 2012.
The company expects full-year 2013 sales to increase by 25 percent compared with 2012.
