Russian retailer X5 says sales growth picks up in Q2

MOSCOW, July 13 (Reuters) - Russia's second-biggest food retailer X5 said on Monday its sales growth accelerated in the second quarter due to expansion and higher like-for-like sales at its low-price Pyaterochka stores.

Sales at X5 jumped 28.1 percent in April-June, year-on-year, to 198.6 billion roubles ($3.51 billion), after a rise of 26.5 percent in the first quarter, it said in a statement.

That was the highest rate since the third quarter of 2011 and was boosted by a 23.9 percent rise in net selling space and a 15.6 percent increase in like-for-like sales, it said.

Breaking down like-for-like sales, the average bill rose 13 percent while customer traffic was up 2.2 percent.

Pyaterochka was the key driver for both customer traffic and selling space growth, X5 said. The discount stores accounted for more than 90 percent of selling space added in the first half of 2015.

Russian consumers, hit by a sharp economic slowdown and high inflation following a drop in oil prices and a ban on many food imports in retaliation to Western sanctions over Russia's role in Ukraine, have flocked to discount stores, benefiting retailers like X5 and Magnit.

($1 = 56.6290 roubles) (Reporting by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Lidia Kelly)