Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has reported a fall in half-year sales, although there are signs its performance could be improving.

In the six months to the end of June, like-for-like sales dropped 2.5%. However, the decline in like-for-like sales eased in the second quarter. Like-for-likes were down 1.1% in the April-June quarter, compared to a decrease of 3.9% in the first three months of the year.

X5, Russia's largest retailer by sales, said its half-year group sales increased 7.2% to RUR240.32m (US$7.35bn).

Second-quarter sales were up 10%. X5 pointed to an increase in promo-activities and marketing campaigns, improvement in availability, improved like-for-like results at soft discounters and the performance of maturing stores added over the past two years, including former Kopeyka stores.

X5 this morning announced the immediate departure of its CEO Andrei Gusev.