Detsky Mir to return to profit in 2010

2010-07-20

Detsky Mir, the largest Russian children’s goods retailer, is planning to start generating profit again in 2010 and increase its revenue by 10% year on year in rouble terms, according to the company’s CEO Aleksey Chuykin.

In 2009 the retailer experienced net losses of $99.1m and a drop in revenue to $583m. However, in Q1 2010 the company’s revenue started to improve, increasing by 9% year on year to $127m. Therefore, in the course of the last three quarters of the year, the company plans to focus on a further improvement of its financial results; it also plans to decrease the number of suppliers and withhold from active expansion.

Detsky Mir is planning to open five stores by the end of the year. At the beginning of June 2010 the company announced that it would open not more than 10 new stores this year, as reported by Retail Update Russia. Currently, the retailer operates 128 stores in 68 cities in Russia.

The company, which is solely owned by Sistema, is currently looking for an investor and can close a deal already in Q3 2010. Mr. Chuykin, however, refrained from disclosing any more details of the possible transaction.