MOSCOW — Midrange supermarket chain Sedmoi Kontinent on Wednesday reported an 11 percent rise in sales in the first nine months of 2009 compared with a year earlier, underperforming budget-priced competitors.
The country's consumer boom has been dulled by the first recession in a decade, which has seen millions lose jobs or face cuts in salaries and working hours.
Sedmoi Kontinent said the value of an average shopping basket of purchases fell 0.5 percent, but sales overall rose to 35.1 billion rubles ($1.19 billion) in January to September from 31.6 billion in the same period of 2008. Like-for-like sales rose 3.4 percent.
The company did not add to its 140 stores in the third quarter.
Sedmoi Kontinent, which mostly targets the middle-class market, underperformed its peers, which offer cheaper shopping.
Magnit, Russia's largest grocer by number of stores, reported a 31 percent rise in sales, while rival X5 posted a 26 percent increase thanks to the popularity of its discount Pyatyorochka stores.
Sedmoi Kontinent shares were flat at 283.99 rubles by midday against a 3 percent rise in the broad MICEX index.