Metro grew strongly in the first three months of the new broken financial year 2021-2022, with sales exceeding pre-Covid levels.
Hospitality industry bounces back
Between October and December, the German group’s revenue rose by as much as 20 per cent, reaching 7.6 billion euros. This means the company has exceeded its pre-Covid levels. The retail business grew by 13 per cent to 6.2 billion euros, while the delivery division accounted for 1.4 billion euros (+64 per cent).
Gross operating profit increased by a third to 528 million euros, while net profit almost doubled, reaching 195 million euros. Metro attributes this mainly to the revival of the hospitality industry in countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Spain. “These two years of the pandemic have shown that the out of home consumption is unwavering and that the hospitality sector is creative, resilient and making a strong comeback”, says CEO Steffen Greubel. “The industry will continue to face challenges for a while. With our stores, food service distribution, online marketplace and digital tools, we will maximise our ability to empower our customers to meet the challenges they face. This will allow us to continue to grow together with them.”
Incidentally, Metro did not only perform strongly in western Europe. In Russia, sales were up almost 18 per cent, partly aided by favourable exchange rates. Also, in the east segment – with countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland and Turkey – revenues grew by nearly 15 per cent.
