The board of Russia's X5 Retail Group has nominated interim CEO Stephan DuCharme to take the post permanently, as new figures show that store openings lifted the firm's sales in 2012.
DuCharme, who's appointment is still subject to shareholder approval at X5 Retail's annual general meeting in April, said today (14 January) he is honoured to take on the role.
"2012 was a year of significant challenges and changes for the company," said DuCharme, who became interim CEO last July following the exit of Andrei Gusev.
"However, I think our ability to regroup in the second half of the year and deliver on our annual guidance demonstrates the strength of our asset base and validates the decisions we have made so far."
X5 has yet to publish full results for 2012, but it said today net sales rose by 8.3% for the 12 months to the end of December, to RUB490.1bn (US$16.2bn). Fourth-quarter sales rose by 8.6% on the same period of 2011, to RUB133.9bn.
However, sales in 2012 were driven by a 41% increase in net selling space versus 2011. No like-for-like sales figures were published today, leaving the group's progress in an increasingly competitive market open to question.
"We will continue to make the hard decisions and implement the necessary changes in 2013 to achieve the full potential of our stores," said DuCharme.
In other personnel changes announced today, X5 said its CFO, Kieran Balfe, will leave the company on 8 March, while its general director for soft discounters, Frank Mros, has resigned with immediate effect.
Balfe will be replaced by deputy commercial director Sergey Piven, subject to shareholder approval. Prior to joining X5 in 2011, Piven was CEO of Belmarket Co, a retail chain owned by A1, the private equity arm of Alfa Group.
Meanwhile, a search is underway to replace Mros.
