Profit or loss for the period and earnings per share

The profit or loss for the period from continuing operations in financial year 2019/20 was €−140 million, €567 million below the profit or loss for the period of the previous year (2018/19: €427 million).

The profit or loss for the period from continuing and discontinued METRO AG operations was €471 million in financial year 2019/20, and was thus €138 million above the net result for the profit or loss for the previous year’s period (2018/19: €333 million).

Net of profit or loss attributable to non-controlling interests, profit or loss for the period attributable to the shareholders of METRO AG from continuing and discontinued operations amounts to €460 million (2018/19: €322 million). This represents an increase of €138 million, with continuing operations contributing €−566 million.

On this basis, METRO achieved earnings of €1.27 per share from its continuing and discontinued operations in financial year 2019/20 (2018/19: €0.89), of which €−0.40 came from continuing operations (2018/19: €1.16). The calculation for the reporting period was based on a weighted number of 363,097,253 shares. Profit or loss for the period attributable to shareholders of METRO AG was distributed according to this number of shares. There was no dilution from so-called potential shares in financial year 2019/20 or in the previous year.

This result forms the basis for the dividend recommendation.