Russian leading supermarket chain Dixy Group announced it is replacing its president after reporting a fall in revenue but which still increased by nearly 18% in November.

"As of 18 December 2015, Sergey Belyakov steps in as President of Dixy Group," the company said in a press release. "Ilya Yakubson will continue as deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors."

Yakubson scored some notable successes in his six years heading Dixy, which is owned by multi-industry retail group Mercury. In an exclusive interview with bne IntelliNews in November Yakubson said he opened more stores in the first nine months of this year than in all of 2014, bringing the total to more than 2,600 today. But it seems the owners were not satisfied as the chain's main competitors – X5 and Magnit – both saw revenues grow over the same period, albeit more slowly than expected due to the economic downturn.

Igor Kesaev, Chairman of the Board of Directors, said in a statement: "Over the six years of his leadership, Ilya Yakubson has promoted the company into the top range of the nation's retailers. Under his management, Dixy Group has opened over 2,000 stores, increased its annual sales fivefold and attained a strong market position. Ilya's expertise and energy were essential to the company at its formative stage as it created its distinctive identity and shaped the business model ... Dixy is one of Mercury Group's strategic assets and will remain so going forward."

Dixy has published its November trading update, reporting revenues up 17.9% YoY to RUB23.5bn. However, revenue growth is decelerating. Revenue growth was to 17.9% y/y, down from 19.2% y/y in October, due to the generally weak consumer sentiment during the month. In 11mo15, the top line grew 19.6%, broadly in line with expectation of 19% for 2015F. Analysts at VTB Captial are forecasting 520 net store additions in the convenience format for 2015 but see a deceleration to 450 outlets next year as the latest cash flow management trends are downbeat.

Yakubson bowed out admitting that the company needs some fresh ideas to deal with the new tougher realities of the increasingly competitive Russian retail market: "Today, Dixy is on the verge of a new effort to achieve a breakthrough. In order to properly respond to the market's challenges, we need a fresh look at things while preserving the continuity of the strategic priorities."

Dixy Group's new boss Belyakov was vice-president and managing director of the Mercury group of companies prior to his appointment. He was also previously a manager at the Evraz steel plant and various entities of Interros holding.

As of November 30, 2015, Dixy operated 2,667 stores, including 2,526 Dixy neighborhood stores, 104 Victoria stores, 1 CASH store, and 36 compact hypermarkets MegaMart and MiniMart, covering a total of 890,963 square metres of selling space as of November 30. The company operates in the central, northwestern, Volga and Urals federal districts of Russia, and in Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad region, and is planning to move into more regions in the new year. 

In 2014, Dixy's total revenue amounted to RUR 229bn ($6.0bn), making it the third largest national food retailer by revenue, selling area, and number of stores.

In May 2007, the company raised $360mn in its IPO on the RTS and MICEX. A controlling stake of 54.4% in OJSC Dixy Group is owned by Mercury Group of Companies.

Retail stocks have been very popular with investors, but not Dixy's. The stock was down 12.7% YTD as of December 21 and down 17.6% y/y.