Sales and earnings development

Development of group sales by region

At €12.0 billion, reported sales in Germany were 2.6% lower than in the . Like-for-like sales decreased by 1.7%. Following a difficult first half of the year during which sales at and Real declined considerably, the trend improved significantly during the second half of the year.

The reported sales in the international business increased by 3.7% to €25.2 billion. This is especially due to the opening of new stores and the acquisition of Pro à Pro. Currency effects also played a part. International sales rose by 3.0% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased by 1.6%. The international share of total sales stood at 67.8% (2015/16: 66.4%).

The reported sales in Western Europe (excl. Germany) increased by 3.6% to €10.5 billion. This is especially due to the acquisition of Pro à Pro. Like-for-like sales decreased slightly by 0.3%.

The reported sales in Eastern Europe increased by 4.5% to €10.3 billion. Especially positive currency effects in Russia influenced this development. Particularly positive sales trends were recorded in Turkey. Sales rose by 1.8% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased by 2.3%.

The reported sales in Asia increased by 2.3%. All countries contributed to this positive development. Sales rose by as much as 4.2% in local currency. Like-for-like sales climbed by 4.7%.

Sales development of METRO by segments and regions

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in % compared with the previous year’s period

 

 

2015/16
€ million

 

2016/17
€ million

 

in group currency (€)

Currency effects in percentage points1

in local currency

Like-for-like sales in local currency

1

The currency effect is calculated by comparing reported sales of the current financial year in euros with sales of the previous period, converted at the average exchange rate of the current financial year.

METRO Wholesale

 

29,000

 

29,866

 

3.0

0.7

2.3

0.9

Real

 

7,478

 

7,247

 

−3.1

0.0

−3.1

−1.0

Others

 

72

 

27

 

−62.4

−0.3

−62.1

METRO

 

36,549

 

37,140

 

1.6

0.5

1.1

0.5

thereof Germany

 

12,279

 

11,962

 

−2.6

0.0

−2.6

−1.7

thereof international

 

24,270

 

25,177

 

3.7

0.8

3.0

1.6

Western Europe (excl. Germany)

 

10,173

 

10,543

 

3.6

0.0

3.6

−0.3

Eastern Europe

 

9,828

 

10,266

 

4.5

2.7

1.8

2.3

Asia

 

4,269

 

4,368

 

2.3

−1.9

4.2

4.7

The reconciliation from reported sales to like-for-like sales in local currency is shown in the following:

€ million

 

2015/16

 

2016/17

1

Sales in local currency of the previous year were calculated by converting reported sales of the previous year at the average exchange rate of the current financial year

2

Not included in the like-for-like panel are, among others, new openings, stores in start-up phase, closures, service companies and major refurbishments.

Total sales in € (as reported)

 

36,549

 

37,140

Total sales in local currency1

 

36,735

 

37,140

Sales of stores that were not part of the like-for-like panel in 2016/172

 

2,356

 

2,584

Like-for-like sales in local currency

 

34,378

 

34,555

Group sales of METRO 2016/17

by regions

Group sales of METRO 2016/17 (pie chart)
Development of group EBIT and EBIT of the segments

 

 

EBIT1

€ million

 

2015/16

2016/17

1

Before special items.

METRO Wholesale

 

1,048

1,114

Real

 

105

80

Others

 

−43

−86

Consolidation

 

−5

−1

METRO

 

1,106

1,106

Sales and earnings development of the segments

METRO Wholesale (previously METRO Cash & Carry)

METRO Cash & Carry launched the in financial year 2015/16 to improve its business management. As part of the introduction of the New Operating Model, the METRO Cash & Carry countries were classified into the clusters , , and Others.

Supported by positive currency effects among other factors, ’s reported sales for financial year 2016/17 increased by 3.0% to €29.9 billion. Since its acquisition in February 2017, Pro à Pro also contributed to the overall sales revenue with approximately €470 million. The company is one of the leading food service distribution providers (FSD) in France. Sales rose by 2.3% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased by 0.9%. Like-for-like sales increased in all quarters and have now risen in every quarter for 4 years in a row.

The delivery business of METRO Wholesale continued to develop highly dynamically. Sales in financial year 2016/17 rose by more than 25% to more than €4.6 billion. The share of sales attributable to the delivery business for the entire year amounts to 15.6%. The acquisition of Pro à Pro has also contributed to this.

Sales of METRO wholesale 2016/17

by clusters

Sales of METRO Wholesale 2016/17 (pie chart)

Reported sales in the HoReCa cluster rose by 3.1% in financial year 2016/17. Sales rose by 4.5% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased slightly by 0.3%. Especially Turkey contributed to the growth in like-for-like sales, while Germany recorded a decline.

In the Multispecialist cluster, sales increased by 3.7% in financial year 2016/17. Sales rose by 0.5% in local currency. Like-for-like sales slightly increased by 0.5%. Russia and the Netherlands recorded declining sales, in particular, while China, Pakistan and India achieved significant increases.

In the Trader cluster, sales increased by 3.3% in financial year 2016/17. Measured in local currency, sales in the Trader cluster rose by 3.9%. Sales rose by as much as 5.5% like-for-like. With the exception of Poland, like-for-like sales climbed in all countries.

before amounted to €1,114 million (2015/16: €1,048 million), supported by positive currency effects amounting to €37 million. Adjusted for these effects, EBIT before special items improved by €29 million. This particularly includes 2 real estate transactions in China, which contributed approximately €80 million (Q2) and €30 million (Q4) to the result. In the previous year, material real estate transactions only accounted for €34 million. Before these real estate transactions and currency effects, EBIT before special items amounted to €47 million less than the previous year. This decline is in particular attributable to developments in Russia, the Netherlands and Belgium, which could not be offset by earnings improvements in most of the other METRO Cash & Carry companies.

at METRO Wholesale totalled €1,035 million in financial year 2016/17 (2015/16: €1,271 million). This decrease was due in particular to income from the sale of the activities in Vietnam during the (€446 million). Adjusted for the one-time income gained from the Vietnamese sale in the previous year, the are considerably below the previous year’s level due to fewer restructuring activities.

On 30 September 2017, METRO Wholesale operated 759 stores located in 25 countries. Of these stores, 104 were in Germany, 239 in Western Europe (excluding Germany), 283 in Eastern Europe and 133 in Asia. Additional countries were covered by the activities of Classic Fine Foods and Rungis Express. Overall, METRO Wholesale has operations in 35 countries.

Key figures METRO Wholesale 2016/17 in year-on-year comparison

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in % compared with the previous year’s period

 

 

2015/16
€ million

 

2016/17
€ million

 

in group currency (€)

Currency effects in percentage points1

in local currency

Like-for-like sales in local currency

1

The currency effect is calculated by comparing reported sales of the current financial year in euros with sales of the previous period, converted at the average exchange rate of the current financial year.

2

Before special items.

3

Before special items; the EBIT margin shows the EBIT/sales ratio.

Sales

 

29,000

 

29,866

 

3.0

0.7

2.3

0.9

HoReCa

 

13,993

 

14,429

 

3.1

−1.4

4.5

0.3

Multispecialist

 

12,066

 

12,518

 

3.7

3.3

0.5

0.5

Trader

 

2,802

 

2,895

 

3.3

−0.5

3.9

5.5

Others

 

138

 

23

 

EBIT2

 

1,048

 

1,114

 

EBIT margin (%)3

 

3.6

 

3.7

 

Locations (number)

 

752

 

759

 

Selling space (1,000 m2)

 

5,380

 

5,307

 

Real

Compared to the previous year, Real’s reported sales declined by 3.1% to €7.2 billion in financial year 2016/17. This was particularly due store disposals. Like-for-like sales decreased by 1.0%. After a difficult first half of the year, the sales trend stabilised over the further course of the financial year: following growth in the 3rd quarter, like-for-like sales increased by 0.6% in the 4th quarter.

Online sales continued to develop very positively. Again, it rose markedly by more than 50% to €105 million in financial year 2016/17. This positive development was driven by the integration of the acquired online shop Hitmeister.

EBIT before special items decreased from €105 million to €80 million. This is due to a decline in sales and increased expenses for advertising and the expansion of the online business. In many food categories, the development was influenced by continuing high competition, while lower personnel costs had the opposite effect.

In financial year 2016/17, EBIT totalled €19 million (2015/16: €108 million). This decline is primarily attributable to expenses incurred by the restructuring of the headquarters.

In financial year 2016/17, Real’s German store network was reduced by 3 to 282 stores.

Key figures Real 2016/17 in year-on-year comparison

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in % compared with the previous year’s period

 

 

2015/16
€ million

 

2016/17
€ million

 

in group currency (€)

Currency effects in percentage points

in local currency

Like-for-like sales in local currency

1

Before special items.

2

Before special items; the EBIT margin shows the EBIT/sales ratio.

Sales

 

7,478

 

7,247

 

−3.1

0.0

−3.1

−1.0

Germany

 

7,478

 

7,247

 

−3.1

0.0

−3.1

−1.0

EBIT1

 

105

 

80

 

EBIT margin (%)2

 

1.4

 

1.1

 

Locations (number)

 

285

 

282

 

Selling space (1,000 m2)

 

1,967

 

1,941

 

Others

The Others segment comprises, among others, METRO AG as the management holding company of METRO group the procurement organisation in Hong Kong, which also operates on behalf of third parties, as well as logistics services and real estate activities of METRO PROPERTIES, which are not attributed to any . These include, for example, speciality stores, warehouses and head offices.

In financial year 2016/17, sales in the Others segment totalled €27 million (2015/16: €72 million). The decline can primarily be attributed to the disposal of 4 Real stores in Romania. Among other things, sales include commissions for third-party business through METRO’s procurement organisation in Hong Kong.

EBIT totalled €−201 million in financial year 2016/17 (2015/16: €−156 million). Special items amounted to €115 million (2015/16: €112 million) and primarily related to one-time expenses in connection with the demerger of METRO GROUP. EBIT before special items amounted to €−86 million (2015/16: €−43 million). This development was driven by lower real estate income (€60 million less).

Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in the annual report.
Glossary
Wholesale, METRO Wholesale
The METRO Wholesale segment comprises the METRO Cash & Carry sales line of METRO AG with more than 750 wholesale markets across 25 countries worldwide. The delivery business (food service distribution) is also part of this segment, with companies like METRO Delivery Service and the delivery specialists Classic Fine Foods, Pro à Pro and Rungis Express.
Glossary
New Operating Model
Organisational and management model at METRO Cash & Carry, which was introduced in 2015. It is supposed to foster an entrepreneurial spirit within the organisation by transferring greater responsibility and creative freedom to the national subsidiaries. At the same time, measures geared towards specific customer groups (for example, for hotels, restaurants and catering firms) are cross-nationally coordinated.
Glossary
HoReCa
Short for hotel, restaurant and catering businesses. The HoReCa sector is a key customer group for METRO Cash & Carry. Due to their strategic focus on HoReCa customers, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Classic Fine Foods have been attributed to the HoReCa cluster since financial year 2015/16. The new HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
Multispecialist
METRO Cash & Carry countries with a strategic focus on both customers in the HoReCa segment and customers in the Trader and SCO segments have been attributed to the Multispecialist cluster since financial year 2015/16. These include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, India, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The new HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
Trader
The term “Trader” at METRO Cash & Carry refers to the customer group of independent resellers such as operators of small grocery stores and kiosks, street food vendors, gas stations and wholesalers.

Since financial year 2015/16, the Trader cluster comprises the METRO Cash & Carry countries Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. The HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
Wholesale, METRO Wholesale
The METRO Wholesale segment comprises the METRO Cash & Carry sales line of METRO AG with more than 750 wholesale markets across 25 countries worldwide. The delivery business (food service distribution) is also part of this segment, with companies like METRO Delivery Service and the delivery specialists Classic Fine Foods, Pro à Pro and Rungis Express.
Glossary
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes)
This key figure is used for the international comparison of companies.
Glossary
Special items
Business transactions or a number of uniform business transactions that do not recur regularly, that are reflected in the income statement and that have a significant impact on business activities are classified as special items. As a result, the presentation of special items better reflects ordinary business performance and contributes to a better understanding of the earnings position.
Glossary
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes)
This key figure is used for the international comparison of companies.
Glossary
Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in the annual report.
Glossary
Special items
Business transactions or a number of uniform business transactions that do not recur regularly, that are reflected in the income statement and that have a significant impact on business activities are classified as special items. As a result, the presentation of special items better reflects ordinary business performance and contributes to a better understanding of the earnings position.
Glossary
Sales line
Part of a retail company that operates stores or markets with a specific sales concept.
Glossary