Fix Price

Fixed price supermarket network Fix Price has been operating on the Russian market since 2007. The main idea of ​ ​ the project is to offer the buyer a wide range of household goods for the whole family at one low price.

Owners

The shareholders of the company for February 2021 are the founders of the network Sergey Lomakin and Khachatryan (83.4%), Marathon Group Alexander Vinokurov (9.9%), Goldman Sachs (4%) and the company's management (2.3%).

Performance indicators

2023

Revenue growth by 3.3% to 281 billion rubles

In 2023, the Fix Price network earned 281 billion rubles in revenue, which is 3.3% more than a year earlier. Net profit also increased - by 11.5%, to 21.9 billion rubles. Such data are provided in the financial statements of BEST Price LLC (operating company Fix Price), published in mid-February 2024.

According to Interfax, citing materials from the retailer, in 2023 the company's gross profit rose by 4.1% compared to a year ago - to 94.3 billion rubles. Profit from sales, in turn, decreased by 8.3%, to 35.9 billion rubles.

Fix Price earned 281 billion rubles in revenue

In 2023, Fix Price increased its online sales by 18% compared to the previous year. Through its own services - a web showcase and the Fix Price mobile application - turnover grew by 37% year-on-year.

According to the retailer's own data, in total, taking into account partner deliveries through the services Market Deliveri, Yandex.Market, Yandex.Food, Sberbank and its own online services, buyers in 2023 made more than 1.2 million online orders in Fix Price. The average check amount when ordering online was 1.2 thousand rubles. The Fix Price online range featured more than 2,000 items. The most popular products for ordering in the Fix Price online store are paper napkins, towels and toilet paper, storage containers and household goods. In addition, seasonal collections of kitchen goods are in high demand, the company's press service reports.

Online services are not the main sales channel for Fix Price, but at the same time it shows steady and dynamic growth as our web showcase and mobile application develop, as well as the connection of new partners and delivery services. This year we plan to continue to improve our e-commerce direction, not only in Russia, but also in other countries of the network's presence, "said Victoria Smirnova, director of the Fix Price marketing department.[1]

Opening 751 new stores

Fix Price opened 751 new stores for 2023. The press service of the retailer announced this on January 9, 2024.

By December 31, 2023, the Fix Price chain had 5756 stores in Russia and 658 outlets outside the Russian Federation. The company noted that the most intensively new Fix Price stores opened in 2023 in such regions as the Moscow region (76 net openings, minus closures), Moscow (45), Krasnodar Territory (44), Kemerovo (30) and Chelyabinsk (23) regions. The most active months in terms of the number of new outlets opened in 2023 were March, June and December, the press release said.

Fix Price said the company met a plan to open new stores in 2023 and continued to expand through standardisation of business processes, active adoption of technology, and flexibility and speed of decision-making by a team of top executives in changing circumstances.

Fulfilling the plans is always pleasant, but doubly pleasant to see how in the first days after opening, a full house reigns in stores and people sweep the goods off the shelves. This was the case in the Magadan region - a new region where our network came out in Russia in 2023, as well as in stores in Armenia and Mongolia, in which you can also now find the familiar Fix Price sign, - said Vladimir Pogonin, director of the Fix Price store management department.

According to him, the opening of 60-70 stores per month was a natural result of the work of the team of all departments of the company: logistics, human resources service, financial department and IT service. The company's 2024 plan involves the opening of at least 750 new outlets.

By September 30, 2023, Fix Price operated 12 distribution centers and operated in 80 regions of Russia, as well as in 8 nearby countries.^[2]

2022

Revenue growth by 20.5%, to 277.6 billion rubles

The Fix Price chain of stores completed 2022 with revenue of 277.6 billion rubles, which is 20.5% more than a year earlier. The retailer announced its performance at the end of January 2023. Net income is not given in the document.

According to the reports, the company's retail revenue for the year increased by 21.1% and amounted to 246.2 billion rubles, wholesale - by 15.6%, to 31.4 billion rubles. The LFL of Fix Price sales, adjusted for the effect of the ruble strengthening, increased by 11% year-on-year (10.1% excluding adjustment) in line with initial forecasts during the IPO. The growth of the LFL - the average check, adjusted for the effect of the strengthening of the ruble, amounted to 13.9% (12.9% excluding adjustment).

LFL traffic was down 2.5%. The total growth rate of LFL-sales of food and drogery in stores in Russia in 2022 amounted to 22.8%. The total number of stores increased by 759, including 671 stores operated by the company and 88 franchise stores, beating the previously announced forecast of 750 net openings in 2022. The total retail area of ​ ​ Fix Price stores on an annualized basis increased by 15.9%, to 168.5 thousand square meters. m.

By the end of 2022, the number of registered participants in the Fix Price loyalty program increased by 1.4 million and reached 21.9 million people (+ 28.7% of the year-on-year), while the share of purchases with a loyalty card amounted to 60.7% of total retail sales. The average check for purchases made with a loyalty card was 1.8 times the average check for non-card buyers.

The reporting also notes that the share of imports in retail sales of Russian stores managed by Fix Price for the year decreased from 31.7% to 27%.^[3]

Creating 4,200 jobs

In 2022, the Fix Price chain of stores created about 4.2 thousand new jobs mainly due to the opening of new outlets and distribution centers. The most popular vacancies were the positions of a cashier seller (48% of the total number of open vacancies) and a store administrator (14%). The company disclosed such data at the end of January 2023.

According to Fix Price, the company is actively hiring shift chiefs, pickers, auditors and other specialists, including office staff. In 2022, more than 120 new vacancies were opened in the central office. In total, in 2022, Fix Price opened more than 750 new stores (own and franchisees) in Russia and in foreign countries of presence, and also commissioned two new distribution centers - in Novosibirsk and the Samara region.

The largest number of new vacancies were opened in Moscow (about 400), in the Krasnodar Territory (about 250) and St. Petersburg (about 150). At the same time, the rate of closing vacancies in 2022 increased by 25% compared to 2021. On average, the company closed vacancies in stores in 8 days.

A feature of 2022 was an increase in the speed of closing vacancies for linear positions. This was influenced by the automation of the recruitment process, which reduced labor costs for routine processes. In addition, an increase in the loyalty of existing employees and an increase in brand awareness in the market played a role. The opening of new Fix Price stores takes place even in remote and small settlements of the country, which increases the level of employment of the population, helps to reduce social tension? - said the HR director of Fix Price Anton Maksimenko, whose words are quoted by the retailer's press service.

Information Technology at Fix Price

2023

SAP support on your own and the transition from HP to Russian computers. Oleg Lexin, CIO Fix Price, on the development of IT in new conditions

Fix Price, like all major retailers, strives to improve the efficiency of its business and improve the purchasing experience, which cannot be done without IT. But in her case, solving these problems is challenging - you need to be especially economical about the issue of costs in order to keep attractive prices for your customers. In 2022-2023, Fix Price also faced new challenges related to the aggravated geopolitical situation. Oleg Lexin, Head of IT Fix Price, spoke about how the company continues to develop IT in these conditions in an interview with TAdviser in June 2023. Read more here.

Tester Assistant Set Start

On September 4, 2023, Fix Price, a chain of low fixed price stores, initiated a set of tester assistants, thanks to which novice IT specialists can try their hand at interning on the company's projects. The duration of training for one stream is 2-3 months, during which trainees receive the experience they need to continue their careers as a "tester assistant," and the company introduces new processes and debugging the technical base thanks to an additional resource.

In order to pass the selection, the future assistant must have minimal theoretical knowledge in the field of testing, be able to work with testing tools at the basic level and the desire to develop in the field.

We submitted the idea of ​ ​ creating a school of testers to our partner, who performs IT tasks for us. The first stream of trainees started at the end of 2022, and the second in the spring of 2023. Their results showed that the experiment was successful, so it is planned to recruit a new group of interns at the end of autumn. The internship is paid, in each stream there are several people who take the first steps in IT, "said Oleg Lexin, head of the Fix Price IT service.

During the practice, interns study the functional blocks of the Fix Price application, gain skills in developing test documentation, experience in testing commercial products, and also perform tasks from mentors on the material passed. After completing the internship, they can apply for the positions of junior testers.

Start hiring personnel using a voice robot

Store chain Fix Price has announced the start of recruitment using a voice robot. The latter selects personnel for mass vacancies: sellers, administrators, merchandisers, warehouse workers, picker, etc.

The robot calls the candidates on its own and offers to get acquainted with the company's vacancies. If agreed, the system will ask for the address from which the candidate is most convenient to get to work, after which he will list all vacancies in stores or in a warehouse nearby. Next, the applicant for the vacancy can choose a date for a personal interview. The assistant robot automatically records the results of the conversation and enters the information into the database.

The program is able to analyze about 1,000 resumes per day, select the most relevant of them and make calls to candidates with job offers in Fix Price. In the future, when reaching full capacity, the system will restrain the growth of recruiters, as well as significantly increase the speed of hiring in the company, the retailer said.

According to Anton Maksimenko, HR Director of Fix Price, retail is one of the areas of business that requires a constant influx of staff, and this is all the more relevant for the dynamically growing Fix Price network.

The introduction of new technologies makes it possible to significantly simplify and facilitate the hiring process, and with it reduce costs. Launching a voice assistant robot for recruiting is one of many steps Fix Price takes in this direction. It allows you to search around the clock, due to this, significantly increase the number of candidates. If in one of the regions there was a massive opening of vacancies, we can, thanks to the robot, significantly increase the flow of candidates without increasing the number of personnel managers, "he said.[4]

History

2024: Purchase of a business center in Moscow for 1.3 billion rubles to open a new headquarters there

Fix Price bought a business center in Moscow for 1.3 billion rubles and will open a headquarters there. This became known on January 12, 2024.

As Fix Price told Vedomosti, a building with a total area of ​ ​ over 12,000 square meters was purchased, located next to the Prospekt Mira metro station, on the street. Shchepkina in the center of the capital. According to a representative of the retailer, it is planned to place Fix Price employees there, and part of the space will be leased.

The press service of the company added that the 8-story business center will accommodate almost 1,000 office employees of the company. By mid-January 2024, finishing work is being completed at the facility.

Our network, and along with it, the team of specialists is growing dynamically, in connection with which the question arose of finding a new, more spacious and modern office. We were looking for a room that would be conveniently located and had good transport accessibility for all our employees, whose work provides for visiting an office in Moscow, "said Anton Maksimenko, HR Director of Fix Price.

According to him, areas for eating, recreation and sports, meeting and conference rooms will be created in the new office. It is also planned to save hybrid and remote work formats for some employees. Maksimenko added that the new building is twice the size of the previous one, "so this move is also for the future."

Real estate consultants interviewed by the publication clarify that we are talking about the Etmia business center, built back in 2009 by the Finnish construction concern SRV Group and the Streaming Group. About 50 million euros were invested in its construction.

Subsequently, the business center was acquired by A Style Group, which, according to Vedomosti, could be associated with Fix Price.^[5]

2023

Fix Price co-founder Artem Khachatryan sold a stake in the company for $1 billion

At the end of December 2023, it became known about the sale of Artem Khachatryan's stake in the Fix Price chain of stores, of which he is co-founder. This is stated in the message of the London Stock Exchange.

As RBC writes with reference to this message, Fix Price CEO Dmitry Kirsanov bought 1% of the authorized capital, or 8.5 million shares, from Khachatryan. Another major shareholder of Fix Price Sergey Lomakin acquired the remaining 34.2%, or 290.5 million shares.

In addition to selling the stake, Artem Khachatryan left the post of member of the board of directors of the Fix Price group "for family reasons." 

Khachatryan sold Kirsanov 8.5 million shares at a price of $2.94 per share and 290.5 million shares at a price of $3.41 to Lomakin. In total, he received $1.015 billion for his share,  Forbes calculated.

The company continues to operate in accordance with the established development strategy, under the leadership of the CEO and top management. The company's plans remain unchanged, including the development plan for 2024, the Fix Price press service commented.

The Fix Price chain of stores , in which goods are sold in the "all at the same price" format , Khachatryan launched together with Lomakin in 2007, they also previously owned the Kopeika chain (by the end of 2023 it operates under the Pyaterochka brand in X5 Group). The fortune of Khachatryan  and Lomakin, according to the Forbes rating of Russian billionaires in 2023, amounted to $2.1 billion each.

As of September 30, 2023, the chain consisted of 6,162 stores in Russia and neighboring countries, operated 12 distribution centers and operated in 80 regions of Russia, as well as in eight nearby countries.

At the Moscow Exchange, Fix Price global depositary receipts by December 29, 2023 at 19:30 Moscow time are traded at a price of around 280 rubles per paper (1 GDR = 1 share), or $3.1 at the Central Bank rate.^[6]

Change of registration from Cyprus to Kazakhstan

Fix Price shareholders approved the re-registration of the company's parent structure (Fix Price Group PLC) from Cyprus to Kazakhstan. The press service of the chain of stores announced this on November 9, 2023.

It follows from the press service that, within the framework of the approved redomication, Fix Price will retain its organizational and legal status and become a registered legal entity on the territory of the Astana International Financial Center. Also, the shareholders approved a new memorandum and charter of the company, which will operate after redomication. The retailer is going to keep the GDR listing on the London Stock Exchange and the Moscow Exchange after the completion of the redomication process.

The company said the redomicitation "will help eliminate some of the difficulties associated with paying dividends."

We have already indicated our intention to work on the issue of dividend payment, and we adhere to this attitude, the statement said.

Fix Price suggests that the timing of the redomication will be "quite long" - the company does not expect the process to be completed earlier than in the second half of 2024.

As Mikhail Burmistrov, General Director of Infoline Analytics, noted in a conversation with Vedomosti, Kazakhstan is a very convenient jurisdiction in terms of banks. According to the expert, the redomicitation to this country is popular with Russian companies. This, as Burmistrov notes, allows such players to both develop business in this country and engage in regional expansion. The same Fix Price has very ambitious plans not only in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other neighboring countries, but also in the UAE, he recalls.

According to Fix Price's own data, the company has 262 stores and 1,600 employees in Kazakhstan by November 2023.

FIX PRICE GROUP PLC ANNOUNCES VOTING RESULTS AT EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS

2022: Obtaining permanent registration in Cyprus

On June 15, 2022, it became known that the Fix Price fixed price store chain received permanent registration in Cyprus. There, the retailer registered a legal entity, Fix Price Group Plc, and did so to best suit the interests of the company and its shareholders, the company said in a statement.

According to Interfax, at the end of February 2022, the retailer's board of directors decided to reorganize (reorganize the legal entity, in which jurisdiction changes) in Cyprus, and a month later, the change in registration jurisdiction from BVI to Cyprus was approved by the shareholders of Fix Price. In May 2022, the retailer received temporary registration in Cyprus.

The company was previously incorporated in the British Virgin Islands. After the redomication in Cyprus, Fix Price planned to carry out a reorganization in the form of the merger of its Cypriot subsidiary Kolmaz Holdings Ltd., after which Kolmaz would cease to exist. It is assumed that the redomicitation and reorganization will simplify the holding structure of the group and will assist in achieving other efficiencies, the network expects.

As of March 31, 2022, the Fix Price chain of stores has 5,083 stores in Russia and neighboring countries, each of which has about 2,000 items in about 20 product categories. In addition to its own brands, Fix Price sells products from local manufacturers and leading global brands. The company operates 8 distribution centers and operates in 80 regions of Russia, as well as in 6 foreign countries.

In January 2022, Fix Price entered into an agreement with VTB Capital to buy out its global depositary receipts with a total amount of up to 4 billion rubles. The program will run until July 23, 2022.^[7]

2021

Opening of the 4,400th store

Fix Price on April 30, 2021 announced the opening of the 4,400th store and the transition of the milestone of 13 million users of the loyalty program.

The bulk of Fix Price outlets are located in the Russian Federation. As of April 2021, Fix Price has more than 4,400 stores in Russia and neighboring countries. The geography of the network's presence abroad is in the process of constant dynamic growth. The opening of the 170th store in Belarus, the 27th store in Uzbekistan, the 16th store in Latvia took place, and the number of stores in Kazakhstan exceeded 117 outlets (of which 100 are own FixPrice stores).

Along with the increase in the number of Fix Price stores, there is also an increase in the number of participants in the chain's loyalty program. For a month and a half, the number of users of the Fix Price loyalty program increased by 500,000 and as of April 2021 amounts to 13 million users.

This fact is a clear confirmation of the relevance of loyalty programs for consumers. As an important tool for reasonable consumption, retail chain loyalty programs help consumers save against the background of a general drop in household incomes and a decrease in their consumer activity.

On April 19, 2021, the FixPrice store network announced a change in the points rules, as a result of which the amount of possible savings increased to 20% (and in the case of goods participating in promotional offers - up to 30%).

Access to the London and Moscow Exchanges

On March 10, 2021, Fix Price shares began trading on the London and Moscow exchanges. The chain of fixed price stores following the IPO plans to raise a total of $2 billion, taking into account the option for additional placement. The size of the supply was increased due to increased demand from investors.

According to RBC, Fix Price offered investors 178.4 million global depositary receipts (GDR, equal to one ordinary share), which is approximately 21% of the company's increased authorized capital. The placement took place at a price of $9.75 per share, or 725.7 rubles - at the upper limit of the previously announced range of $8.75-9.75 per receipt. Thus, the market capitalization of the company at the start of trading amounted to about $8.3 billion.

Co-owners of Fix Price Artem Khachatryan Sergey Lomakin became dollar billionaires after the retailer went public. According to estimates, the Forbes fortune of each of the entrepreneurs is estimated at $3.4 billion. The agency Bloomberg calls a little more - 3.6 billion.

Before the placement, Khachatryan and Lomakin owned 354 067 500 securities (41.66%) of the company, after the IPO - 301 151 876 shares (35.43%). During the IPO, Lomakin and Khachaturian sold 52.9 million shares each and earned $516 million each.

In the materials dedicated to the listing, Fix Price announced plans to open 3.8 thousand new stores in Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, as well as 11.7 thousand stores in Russia.

Fix Price CEO Dmitry Kirsanov in the company's message indicates that its IPO is the largest placement among retailers.

From the Fix Price message, it follows that the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authorities is participating in the IPO of the company for $150 million. In addition, its GDRs are also buying funds managed by American BlackRock ($150 million), Singapore GIC ($100 million) and Dutch APG ($75 million).^[8][9]

Announcement of Intent to IPO

In February 2021, Fix price announced its intention to conduct an IPO. It is expected that the possible value of the company after placement may exceed $6 billion.

2020

Revenue - 190 billion rubles

In 2020, Fix Price revenue amounted to 190 billion rubles, EBITDA - 36.8 billion rubles.

Opening of the first store in Tashkent

In August 2020, the first Fix Price was opened in Tashkent - in a few months there will be 13 stores in different areas of the capital. Crystal Service Integration announced this on September 2, 2020. Read more here.

2019: Fix Price non-food products to appear in Russian Post offices

On April 10, 2019, the Russian Post announced that, together with Fix Price, they plan to launch test points for the retail sale of retailer goods in post offices. Read more here.

2016:2085 points of sale in Russia

As of January 2016, the Fix Price Chain of fixed price supermarkets includes 2085 own and franchise stores in various regions of the country.

Notes