Market capitalisation and index inclusion
The market capitalisation of METRO AG was €6.5 billion at the end of September 2017. In the time between the initial stock exchange listing and the end of the financial year, a typical trading day at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange saw an average volume of 1.4 million of METRO’s ordinary shares traded. Around 4,500 of the significantly less liquid preference shares were exchanged on each trading day.
On the first day of trading, 13 July 2017, shares in the new METRO AG were included in the MDAX under the name METRO Wholesale & Food Specialist AG for a single day. This was due to the demerger of the former METRO GROUP and the fact that the German Stock Exchange index rules stipulate inclusion in the index for both the old company as well as the demerged company for one day. METRO AG as the demerged company was removed from the index after that one day and may requalify for inclusion at a later time. The MDAX comprises the 50 largest German corporations with the highest trading volumes below the DAX 30. The composition is based on fixed inclusion criteria. In addition to being listed in the so-called Prime Standard and a free-float of more than 10%, inclusion in the index depends on the free-float market capitalisation and the stock exchange turnover. Because the new METRO already met the inclusion criteria at the time of the major review conducted in early September, the METRO share has been included in the MDAX since 18 September 2017. The free-float market capitalisation of METRO AG was €2.9 billion at the end of the financial year. METRO is therefore ranked no. 23 in the MDAX. METRO was ranked no. 13 in the MDAX in terms of stock exchange turnover.
The policies of the global MSCI indices take a different approach. Owing to the fact that the former METRO Wholesale & Food Specialist AG was, based on its market capitalisation, the greater entity resulting from the demerger of the former METRO GROUP, the old METRO AG was replaced by METRO Wholesale & Food Specialist AG and was thus included in the MSCI indices from the first trading day.
The METRO share is also included in the relevant industry sector indices EURO STOXX Retail and STOXX 600 Retail.
Many investors place a high priority on the issue of sustainability, including for risk-related reasons. METRO AG was recognised as the most sustainable retail company in the Food and Staples Retailing category in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, making the company the industry leader in this segment. METRO shares are also listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability World and Dow Jones Sustainability Europe indices. Rating agency Oekom Research issued a prime recommendation for METRO AG in the wholesale category (Trading Companies & Distributors). In this category, METRO immediately assumed the top position among approximately 70 international companies.
METRO shares are also included in the MSCI World ESG Leaders Index and its European counterparts.
METRO’s membership in the most important sustainability index groups demonstrates that METRO is on the right track with its sustainable business practices and that the capital markets are rewarding its efforts in this area.