Investments/divestments

In financial year 2021/22, METRO invested €935 million and is thus €171 million above the previous year’s investment volume of €764 million.

The increase in investments resulted largely from aquisitions of subsidiaries. In addition to the acquisition of the AGM wholesale stores by METRO Austria, the increase particularly affects the segment Others. The acquisitions of Eijsink, a leading provider of cloud-based point-of-sale solutions, and the Günther Group, with which METRO is expanding its portfolio of products and services for commercial kitchen technology, make a significant contribution to the increase in this segment.

In financial year 2021/22, there was increased investment in the delivery business, IT and modernisation measures, after more restrained investment in the previous year, which was impacted by Covid-19. Moreover, METRO invested in 2 new store openings in France and India. The investment focus in financial year 2021/22 was also increasingly on investments in sustainability. It is worth highlighting here that METRO has implemented several energy efficiency measures. For example, with the F-Gas Exit Programme, METRO is promoting the replacement of conventional refrigeration systems with high greenhouse gas potential with refrigeration systems using natural refrigerants. In the segment East, these sustainability investments contribute to the increase compared to the previous year.

In addition to the 9 newly acquired AGM wholesale stores in Austria and the 2 new openings in France and India, there were a total of 31 disposals in financial year 2021/22 due to the market exits in Belgium (17 wholesale stores) and Japan (10 wholesale stores) as well as 4 wholesale stores in Ukraine that are no longer in operation.

Proceeds from divestments amount to €272 million and mainly relate to real estate disposals.

• For more information about divestments, see the cash flow statement in the consolidated financial statements as well as the notes to the consolidated financial statements under no. 41 – notes to the cash flow statement.