Detsky Mir Announces Management Change

3 March 2020, Moscow, Russia – The Board of Directors of PJSC Detsky (“Detsky Mir” or the “Company”, MOEX: DSKY), Russia’s largest children’s goods retailer, announces that the Board’s next meeting will discuss the early termination of appointment of Vladimir Chirakhov as the Company’s CEO and Chairman of the Management Board, to be succeeded by Maria Davydova, Deputy CEO of Commercial Activities.

In its meeting scheduled for 10 March 2020, the Board will address the following agenda items:

• The early termination of the appointment of Vladimir Chirakhov, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC Detsky Mir effective in April 2020.
• The appointment of Maria Davydova as CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of PJSC Detsky Mir for a term of three (3) years effective in April 2020.
• The appointment of Vladimir Chirakhov as Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Detsky Mir effective in April 2020.

“We truly owe a debt of gratitude to Vladimir Chirakhov for so many great years at the helm of Detsky Mir. Over this period, the Company has, beyond a shadow of a doubt, evolved into an industry leader, consistently delivering high growth rates in Russia while also entering new markets and actively building an online marketplace. Under Vladimir’s leadership, Detsky Mir not only entered the public capital markets, but also conducted a secondary public offering last year, which has already translated into a significant rise in market capitalization thanks to increased liquidity. We welcome Maria Davydova in her new capacity and are confident that she will continue to chart the Company’s strategic course successfully, and maintain strong growth performance and high dividend payouts. In the meantime, Vladimir Chirakhov’s appointment as Chairman of the Board of Directors will ensure a smooth succession,” said Alexey Katkov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Detsky Mir, and Managing Partner at PJSFC Sistema.

“I am confident that I have succeeded in building a strong team of professionals at Detsky Mir. Through eight years’ hard work, we have transformed a loss-making company into a highly effective and dynamically expanding business. We completed a successful IPO, and have delivered both a double-digit EBITDA and high dividend payouts to our shareholders and other investors.

Our strong financial performance in 2019 evidences the fact that we have chosen an effective growth strategy for the Company, with our consolidated revenue up 16.1% year-on-year to RUB 128.8 billion and adjusted EBITDA up 16.3% year-on-year to RUB 14.7 billion. We have distributed RUB 7 billion to our shareholders as a dividend and cut our debt compared to 2018, both in absolute terms and as a ratio to EBITDA. Furthermore, PJSC Detsky Mir’s net profit for Q4 2019 under Russian Accounting Standards is expected to increase by 23% year-on-year to RUB 4.1 billion. We will recommend distributing the entire net profit as a dividend for the year in Q2 2020.

There is no doubt in my mind that all top executives will stay at Detsky Mir, while Maria Davydova’s in-depth experience and knowledge of all business processes and industry-specific nuances will contribute to the business growth of the Company. Over the past seven years, Maria has greatly contributed to our successful financial and operational performance, cementing our market position and evolving into a truly global toy retailer. I am secure in the belief that Maria will lead Detsky Mir to further successes. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, I will lend Maria my full support, and will continue to actively engage in the operational and strategic governance of the Company,” commented Vladimir Chirakhov, CEO of PJSC Detsky Mir.

“Detsky Mir is the undisputed leader of the post-Soviet market for children’s goods, yet has strong potential for further growth. I will continue to deliver on all of Detsky Mir’s previous strategic commitments as the new CEO, so as to build a more effective omnichannel business model and enter new markets. My team and I will endeavor to deliver on our promises to shareholders and secure our growth and business performance targets,” commented Maria Davydova, Deputy CEO of Commercial Activities at PJSC Detsky Mir.

Biography of Maria Davydova

Maria Davydova joined Detsky Mir Group in 2013 as Procurement Director in Toys. In March 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors appointed Maria as a member of the Management Board, Deputy CEO of Commercial Activities, and Head of Fast Moving Consumer Goods at the Commercial Department. Over the seven years of Maria’s direction, Detsky Mir’s market share reached 29.9% in Products for Newborns and 51.3% in Toys, propelling the Company to become Russia’s largest toy retailer.

Prior to joining Detsky Mir, Maria served as Commercial Director at leading consumer goods distributor NTS Gradient (gradient.ru). She was responsible for exclusive contracts and private labels, and was directly engaged in launching the Merries and Pigeon brands in the Russian market. She has also served in various roles, including Director of Children’s Goods and Commercial Director for Home and Recreation Products, at Enter – Svyaznoy.

Born in 1974, Maria has a degree in Economics from the Institute of Humanities (1998). Maria has extensive expertise in marketing, category management and procurement.

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CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION

Detsky Mir’s management will host a conference call today at 21:00 (Moscow time) / 18:00 (London time) / 13:00 (New York time).

The dial-in numbers for the conference call are:

Russia

+7 495 283 98 58

UK

+44 203 984 98 44

USA

+1 718 866 46 14

PIN

288 543#

For additional information:

Detsky Mir Group (MOEX: DSKY) is a multi-format retailer and Russia’s largest specialized children’s goods retailer. The Group comprises the Detsky Mir and the Detmir.ru retail chains, the ELC (Early Learning Centre in Russia) and the ABC retail chains, as well as the Zoozavr pet supplies retail chain. The Company operates a network of 766 Detsky Mir stores located in 293 cities in Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, 4 Detmir.ru stores, as well as 49 ELC, 13 ABC and ten Zoozavr stores as of 31 December 2019. Total selling space was approximately 843,000 square meters

Detsky Mir Group’s shareholder structure as of the date of this announcement is as follows: PJSFC Sistema[1]  – 33.38%, Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF) [2] – 9.0%, free-float – 57.62%. 

Lear more at www.detmir.ru, elc-russia.ru, ir.detmir.ru

Disclaimer

Some of the information in these materials may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Detsky Mir. You can identify forward looking statements by terms such as “expect”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “intend”, “will”, “could,” “may” or “might” the negative of such terms or other similar expressions. Detsky Mir wishes to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. Detsky Mir does not intend to update these statements to reflect events and circumstances occurring after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Many factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in projections or forward-looking statements of Detsky Mir, including, among others, general economic conditions, the competitive environment, risks associated with operating in the Russian Federation, rapid technological and market change in the industries Detsky Mir operates in, as well as many other risks specifically related to Detsky Mir and its operations.

(1) Sistema PJSFC is a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company serving over 150 million customers in the sectors of telecommunications, children’s goods retail, paper and packaging, healthcare services, agriculture, high technology, banking, real estate, pharmaceuticals and hospitality.

(2) RCIF, an equity fund established by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and China Investment Corporation (CIC), holds its stake in PJSC Detsky Mir through its funds: Floette Holdings Limited and Exarzo Holdings Limited.