Investments/divestments

In financial year 2020/21, METRO invested €764 million and is thus €137 million above the previous year’s investment volume of €627 million.

The increase in investments resulted largely from lease extensions of larger store portfolios in France and Germany, which allowed us to secure the store network long-term.

Moreover, the increase in the Western Europe region is attributable to the acquisition of the food suppliers Aviludo and Davigel Spain. It allowed METRO to significantly expand the supply network in financial year 2020/21 again, thus strengthening its competence in food service distribution in the Portuguese and Spanish wholesale industry.

With 4 new store openings, METRO expanded more in 2020/21 than in the previous year (2019/20: 1 new opening). While 1 new METRO store was opened in Ukraine in the previous financial year, METRO has continued its expansion in India with 3 new openings in the current year and additionally opened a new store in Pakistan. In financial year 2020/21 there was also 1 closure in Germany.

The decrease in investments in Eastern Europe compared to the previous year is mainly due to lower non-cash investments in the delivery area.

The investment focus in financial year 2020/21 continues to be on IT and digitalisation. This mainly concerns the Others segment. The declining investments there are primarily attributable to the strategic partnership with the international IT service provider Wipro Limited.

The divestments in financial year 2020/21 amount to €179 million and mainly relate to the sale of an at-equity investment in a retail location portfolio in Germany and the disposal of real estate.