50. Notes on related parties

In financial year 2020/21, METRO maintained the following business relations to related companies:

Transactions with associates and other related parties

In financial year 2020/21, METRO companies provided services to companies belonging to the group of associates and related parties in the amount of €116 million (2019/20: €54 million).

The significant increase in services provided results from the business relations with METRO Group Commerce (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (formerly METRO China) based on a service level agreement and the granting of brand licences.

In connection with the prepaid brand use, contractual liabilities amounting to €94 million on 30 September 2021 were deferred at METRO (2019/20: €153 million).

The services totalling €81 million (2019/20: €70 million), which METRO companies received in financial year 2020/21 from associates and other related parties, mainly consisted of real estate leases in the amount of €64 million (2019/20: €63 million), (thereof €61 million from associates; 2019/20: €61 million), as well as €13 million (2019/20: €7 million) from provision of services (thereof €6 million from joint ventures; 2019/20: €6 million and €7 million from associates; 2019/20: €0 million) and €4 million from other services from associates (2019/20: €0 million).

During financial year 2020/21, METRO received dividends from related parties amounting to €16 million (2019/20: €13 million), thereof from associates €15 million (2019/20: €13 million).

The balance sheet reports lease liabilities of €428 million (2019/20: €360 million) and corresponding rights of use of €379 million (2019/20: €291 million) from rental agreements with associates. These include OPCI FWP France, OPCI FWS France, Habib METRO Pakistan and Iniziative Methab s.r.l. The increase is due to contract extensions with OPCI FWP France.

Business relations with related parties are based on contractual agreements providing for arm’s length prices. Same as in financial year 2019/20, there were no business relations with related natural persons and companies of management in key positions in financial year 2020/21.

Related persons (remuneration for management in key positions)

The management in key positions consists of members of the Management Board and the Supervisory Board of METRO AG.

Thus, the expenses for members of the Management Board of METRO AG amounted to €9.6 million (2019/20: €6.4 million) for short-term benefits and €0.6 million (2019/20: €0.7 million) for post-employment benefits. The expenses for existing remuneration programmes with long-term incentive effect in financial year 2020/21 that were calculated in accordance with 2, amounted to €4.2 million (2019/20: €−0.8 million).

The short-term remuneration for the members of the Supervisory Board of METRO AG amounted to €2.3 million (2019/20: €2.2 million).

The total remuneration for members of the Management Board in key positions in financial year 2020/21 amounted to €16.7 million (2019/20: €8.5 million).

IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards)
Internationally applicable rules for financial reporting developed by the IASB. Contrary to the accounting rules under the German Commercial Code, the IFRS emphasise the informational function.
Glossary