The year in review

Selected events during financial year 2016/17

Q1 2016/17

METRO Accelerator for Retail announced

16/11/2016 – The mentoring programme METRO powered by Techstars will be extended: METRO Accelerator for focuses on entrepreneurs offering digital solutions for small retailers (). The joint initiative by METRO and Techstars previously focused on start-ups that are specialised in innovations for the sector. In the future, the METRO Accelerator for Hospitality will alternate with the METRO for Retail. The programmes aim at driving the digitisation in these 2 industry sectors.

Real opens Markthalle Krefeld

24/11/2016 – Real opened Markthalle Krefeld, a store of an extraordinary size boasting its own food service section and an unparalleled range of fresh produce. It is structured just like a traditional covered market and contains many small shops: a butcher shop, artisanal bakery, coffee roasting house and specialist stores selling wine, cheese or fish. It is the first store based on the new .

Demo Day METRO Accelerator for Hospitality

7/12/2016 – The Demo Day of the second METRO Accelerator programme for hotels, restaurants and catering operators saw 10 presenting their digital business models to around 300 potential investors. The presented solutions included a digital personal assistant and a recruiting platform for event staff.

Capital Markets Day

15/12/2016 – The 2 companies formed by the demerger of the former METRO GROUP used the Capital Markets Day to present their respective strategies and medium-term outlook for the first time. This was also the occasion of unveiling the new company names to the public: METRO will be the name for the leading international and food retail company, while CECONOMY will be the name of the new consumer electronics company.

Q2 2016/17

METRO Cash & Carry Germany opens additional delivery hubs

10/1/2017 – METRO Cash & Carry Germany expanded the delivery business by opening 4 new delivery hubs in Neu-Ulm, Berlin, Neuss and Neumünster. Together with the existing facility in Weiterstadt, the company now operates 5 central supplier depots. The expansion of the delivery hub network means that METRO Cash & Carry Germany has completed another step on its way to the leading multichannel wholesaler in Germany.

Pro à Pro is providing a boost to the company’s FSD expertise in France

1/2/2017 – Pro à Pro is an important food delivery service for French catering operators. The acquisition allowed METRO Wholesale to significantly expand its delivery network and bolster its expertise in the food service distribution segment of the French wholesale market.

Annual General Meeting approves demerger

6/2/2017 – The shareholders of the former METRO AG approved of the group’s demerger with an overwhelming majority of 99.95% of votes cast. There will be 2 independent market players in the future: METRO operates in and with its METRO Cash & Carry and Real. CECONOMY is the umbrella organisation for Media Markt, Saturn and other companies, as well as for concepts and brands in the area of consumer electronics.

Real.de completes integration of Hitmeister online shop

17/2/2017 – Real has significantly expanded the product range available from its online shop real.de by integrating the popular online shop Hitmeister. Today, customers can choose from a huge selection of products.

Joint venture agreement for wholesale distribution in Myanmar signed

24/2/2017 – The former METRO GROUP Wholesale & Food Specialist Company formed a joint venture with Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd., a stock exchange-listed company from Singapore that focuses its activities on Myanmar, for the development of a 1-stop food sales platform in Myanmar. The joint venture agreement provides for METRO to hold 85% of shares in the newly formed METRO Wholesale Myanmar Ltd., while the remaining 15% are held by Yoma Strategic Holdings.

Q3 2016/17

RTG Retail Trade Group established

3/4/2017 – Real and 5 other established retail companies have founded RTG Retail Trade Group with registered office in Hamburg. The objective is to jointly benefit from synergies and potentials and thereby further improve the competitiveness of all partners.

Partnerships with Planday and Yoyo Wallet

21/6 / 26/6/2017 – METRO expands its activities in the area of the digital transformation in the catering sector and (still under the name METRO GROUP) forms partnerships with the start-up companies Planday and Yoyo Wallet. Planday is the leading European provider of digital personnel resource planning and workforce management solutions. Yoyo Wallet offers a combination of quick and easy technologies for mobile payments.

Rating agency S&P confirms METRO’s investment grade rating

26/6/2017 – International agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has confirmed the investment grade rating for the future wholesale and food specialist METRO and changed its previously preliminary assessment of BBB-/A 3 from December of the to final.

Q4 2016/17

Shares in the new METRO now trading on the stock exchange

12/7 / 13/7/2017 – As the demerger came into effect on 12 July 2017, shares in METRO commenced trading on the stock exchange. Investors are for the first time able to invest in the business of a dedicated wholesale and food specialist. The shareholders of the former METRO AG will receive one additional share in the new METRO AG for each share already held by them.

Demo Day METRO Accelerator for Retail

5/9/2017 – The Demo Day wrapped up the first round of the first Accelerator programme worldwide focusing on retail and wholesale. Following 3 months of comprehensive mentoring and coaching, the 9 participating teams presented their innovative digital solutions for retail companies to around 250 international investors, experts and multipliers.

METRO tops the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in its industry sector

7/9/2017 – The Dow Jones Sustainability World and Europe indices have distinguished METRO as an industry leader in the highly competitive Food & Staples Retailing group for the third time running. METRO is now among the retail companies with the most sustainable operations worldwide.

Interactive exhibition METRO unboxed opened

13/9/2017 – Business partners, customers, suppliers, students, school classes, locals from Düsseldorf and visitors from all over the world were given a glimpse into the world of the new METRO in a temporary exhibition pavilion at the banks of the river Rhine in Düsseldorf. 38 exhibition booths offer interesting insights into the METRO countries and interesting facts on the retail company’s international activities and key focal issues.


METRO share included in the MDAX

18/9/2017 – Following a successful index assessment by the German stock exchange, METRO AG shares have been included in the MDAX only 2 months after the company’s initial public offering. The second most important German share index reflects the share price development of 50 mainly German companies from the traditional industry sectors.

Accelerator
Initiative that supports start-ups, for example with coaching, thus accelerating the development and implementation of their business ideas. METRO has launched the METRO Accelerator powered by Techstars to support start-ups with innovative technologies for use in the food service, hospitality, catering and retail sectors.
Glossary
Retail
The Real sales line of METRO AG operates in the food retail sector and, with 282 stores, it is a leading hypermarket operator in Germany.
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
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
Accelerator
Initiative that supports start-ups, for example with coaching, thus accelerating the development and implementation of their business ideas. METRO has launched the METRO Accelerator powered by Techstars to support start-ups with innovative technologies for use in the food service, hospitality, catering and retail sectors.
Glossary
Food Lover concept
See: hybrid-store concept.
Glossary
Start-up company
Newly founded company characterised by an outstanding business idea and a high degree of innovation.
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
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
Retail
The Real sales line of METRO AG operates in the food retail sector and, with 282 stores, it is a leading hypermarket operator in Germany.
Glossary
Sales line
Part of a retail company that operates stores or markets with a specific sales concept.
Glossary
Rating
In the financial sector, ratings represent the systematic, qualitative assessment of creditworthiness. Ratings are expressed in various grades of creditworthiness. Well-known agencies that issue ratings are Standard & Poor's, Moody’s and Fitch.
Glossary
Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in the annual report.
Glossary