Overview of group business development
Supported by positive currency effects and the acquisition of Pro à Pro, METRO’s reported sales for financial year 2016/17 increased by 1.6% to €37.1 billion. Sales rose by 1.1% in local currency. Like-for-like sales at METRO climbed by 0.5%. METRO Wholesale underwent particularly positive developments, while the sales of Real decreased after a difficult first half of the year.
The EBIT before special items amounted to €1,106 million, reaching the level of the previous year (2015/16: €1,106 million). This figure contains income from the sale of real estate amounting to €175 million (2015/16: €153 million). In 2016/17, the EBIT included 3 material real estate transactions, 2 of which in China (contributing approximately €110 million to the result) and 1 in Germany (approx. €40 million). Adjusted for positive currency effects of €37 million, EBIT before special items was €37 million lower than in the previous year.
Reported group EBIT totalled €852 million in financial year 2016/17 (2015/16: €1,219 million). This decrease was due in particular to income from the sale of the activities in Vietnam during the previous year (€446 million). Adjusted for the one-time income gained from the Vietnamese sale in the previous year, the special items are below the previous year’s level due to fewer restructuring activities.