Germany’s Metro has posted a 0.5% increase in like-for-like sales in its full year 2016/17, with overall sales rising 1.6% to €37.1 billion.
Sales in local currency were up 1.1%. The group’s Metro Wholesale division (formerly Metro Cash & Carry) saw its like-for-like sales up 0.9% for the full year, however, its Real hypermarket business was down 1.0%.
In the fourth quarter of the year, like-for-like sales at Metro Wholesale were up 0.5%, while at Real, they were up 0.6%, a performance that was praised by Metro chief executive Olaf Koch.
New-Look Business
"The new Metro increased sales in the first independent quarter," Koch said. ”We made some significant progress in the fourth quarter, particularly in Metro Wholesale's delivery business and Real's online business.
“We can look back on a positive financial year overall, in which we also successfully completed our transitional year and sharpened the focus of our business by splitting up the previous Metro Group.”
Among the factors that helped lift Real in the fourth quarter was the development of its ‘ dynamic online business, which was accompanied by an increase in marketing expenses’, the retailer said.
Network Strength
As of 30 September 2017, the Metro Wholesale network encompassed 759 locations in 25 countries, 104 of which in Germany, 239 in Western Europe, 283 in Eastern Europe and 133 in Asia.
The Real store network encompassed 282 locations across Germany, with business having been discontinued in three stores since last year.
Commenting on its performance, Bernstein Research said, “Wholesale sales continue to suffer from challenging conditions in key markets: Russia and Germany. The results were impacted by negative currency effects of -0.8%. Delivery sales now account for 17% of total sales, up 25% over the year."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
