UPDATE 3-Russia's X5 cuts 2008 capex plan by third

* X5 cuts 2008 capex to about $1 bln

* Expects to delay three store openings to 2009

* Says Q3 pro-forma like-for-like sales up 21 pct

* Q3 pro-forma net retail sales $2.2 bln, up 48 pct

(Adds analyst, hedge fund manager comments, Kopeika statement, updates shares)

By Maria Kiselyova

MOSCOW, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Russia's top food retailer X5 (PJPq.L) said on Friday it has cut 2008 capital expenditure by about 30 percent because of the financial crisis and was getting ready to respond to a possible decline in consumer sentiment.

X5 Retail Group, majority owned by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's empire, Alfa Group, said it had cut its capex outlook for this year to around $1 billion.

Rival chain Kopeika said in a statement on Friday it had frozen a number of costly long-term projects to strengthen its liquidity profile in the financial crisis and free up cash for possible acquisitions. [ID:nLA221653]

The news follows some Russian companies' moves to cut jobs, output and investment plans as the global credit crunch spills into the real economy, potentially eroding consumer demand.

"It is good that they are adjusting to the crisis," Da Vinci Capital hedge fund manager Gleb Yakovlev said. "It is good to be in shape. They need to be strong to weather the blow, and the one who is strong and prepared will win."

X5, Russia's largest food retailer by revenue, now expects that three hypermarkets initially planned for openings this year will open in 2009 due to delays on the developers' side. Its sales expectations remained fundamentally unchanged.

"We revise our capex and store openings outlook as we decided to defer certain projects in order to consolidate resources in the current liquidity-constrained environment," X5 said in a third-quarter trading update.

By 1405 GMT, X5's London-listed shares fell 12.28 percent to $10, slightly outperforming an index of Russian Global Depositary Receipts traded on London Stock Exchange .FTRIOB.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs said X5 expansion deferral should not have much if any impact on sales growth for the next couple of years. Goldman maintained its Buy rating on X5.