The 2014 All-Russia Research Team: Consumer, No. 3: Victoria Petrova

Victoria Petrova
Credit Suisse

First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 4

Analyst debut: 2011

Rising from runner-up to the No. 3 position is Credit Suisse analyst Victoria Petrova, who is primarily based in Moscow and maintains an office in Frankfurt. Petrova, dubbed “forward-thinking and fiercely independent” by one fund manager, earns wide client praise for her long-standing underperform rating on O’Kay Group. Her bearish stance on the Luxembourg-based operator of Russian hyper- and supermarkets is based on its lackluster revenue growth and weak margin improvements, she advises. Over the 12 months through May, the O’Kay global depositary receipts tumbled 26.5 percent, to $9.15, against the sector’s rise of 4.8 percent. On the positive side, of the 11 Russian consumer companies under Petrova’s coverage, Moscow-based consumer electronics and home appliances retailer M Video is a favorite. The researcher has been bullish on M Video since June 2011, at 251.56 rubles, crediting its market share expansion. More recently, in March 2014 jitters over Russia’s conflict with the Ukraine led to a sell-off in the shares, resulting in a 40.5 percent year-to-date loss that was worse even than the sector’s 20.2 percent drop — and she pounded the table. Sure enough, six weeks later the stock had rebounded 43.3 percent, to 255 rubles, besting its peers by 33.1 percentage points over the period. Petrova foresees still further upside, assigning M Video a target price of 283 rubles.

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