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22 I Companies & Markets bne DNeocvember 2017
Siberia is an important region for Lenta, the company said in a statement. Lenta opened its first hypermarket in Novosibirsk in 2006 and its first supermarket in the city earlier this year.
It currently operate 36 hypermarkets and 4 supermarkets across Siberia, served by a distribution centre in Novosibirsk, according to the company’s press release.
“While Lenta remains primarily focused on organic expansion, we are happy to supplement this by acquiring high quality existing stores when suitable opportunities arise. We have a strong track record of successful integration and look forward
bne:FX
Markets digest second Czech rate hike along with less hawkish than foretold forecast
bne IntelliNews
The Czech crown has been flying ever since the Czech National Bank (CNB) became the first central bank in the EU to hike rates this August and promises more hikes or currency appreciation.
Markets are still absorbing the Czech central bank interest rates forecast released in November that is not as hawkish as anticipated. The central bank hiked rates for a second time on October 2 by 25 basis points to 0.50% in response to inflationary pressures being generated by Europe's fastest growing economy.
No other central bank in the EU has gone ahead with two rate hikes within this year. A third Czech increase may still be on the table for 2017, but the CNB has made it clear that it is in no hurry to further bump up borrowing costs.
“The rate forecast is not as hawkish as the market expected,” ING economist Jakub Seidler told Reuters, adding that it showed only one rate increase next year. “The economy is doing well so definitely it is reasonable to expect more than one hike in 2018.”
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to welcoming former Holiday store employees into the Lenta family. The stores will be refurbished and rebranded over the next few months,” Dunning added.
“Third quarter operating numbers highlight that X5 and Lenta are grabbing market share at the expense of Magnit. We expect the store redesign program to pressure Magnit’s sales for at least 2-3 more quarters and believe that both X5 and Lenta are well-positioned to attract customer traffic inflows," Alfa Bank said in a note.
“The prevailing view, and there was a unanimous vote in this respect, is that there is no reason for dramatic steps, and that we have enough time and room to raise rates in future meet- ings,” CNB governor Jiri Rusnok told a news briefing after the rates decision meeting.
Some board members had indicated before the meeting that there would be more urgency shown towards tightening
“No other central bank in the EU has gone ahead with two rate hikes within this year”
monetary policy. Rusnok said a sharper hike was debated but eventually the board opted 7-0 for a standard step, with the potential for another hike, perhaps in December.
The European Central Bank's decision in November to