Metro ends 2019 on a high

German wholesaler Metro has exceeded expectations in its latest quarter. Western-European growth was 0.5 %, total turnover increased 2.2 %.

According to plan

For the first time since long, Metro seems to be running more or less according to plan: the German wholesaler says it is on track to meet its profit and revenue expectations for its broken financial year 2019-2020. Selling Real and its Chinese activities are progressing according to plan, the retailer says in its trading statement.

“In the first quarter 2019/20, METRO continued to grow in the majority of the regions despite difficult macroeconomic and political conditions in some countries, for example the national general strikes in France. We confirm the outlook for the financial year 2019/20”, chairman Olaf Koch explained.

Total turnover in the first quarter of the financial year amounted to 7.5 billion euros. With the help of favourable exchange rates, there was 2.2 % growth – which amounts to 1 % growth without exchange rates. Barclays analysts were surprised by the result: they had expected a turnover of only 7.24 billion euros.

Focus on food and hospitality

In Germany, there was nevertheless a fall in turnover of 0.4 % due to the new tobacco legislation. In Russia, there was even a sharp fall of 5.3 % (on a comparable basis), but still, the German group sees some improvement there. Asia and Eastern Europe remain the front runners, with 5.2 % and 6.1 % revenue growth respectively.

Metro continues to focus on food and hospitality and sees increasing success for the deliveries it offers in some markets. Physical expansion remains limited, with only three new store openings in the previous year. At the end of 2019, the group had 679 points of sale.