A
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Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains
The law, which entered into force on 1 January 2023 in Germany, sets out clear due diligence requirements for companies based in Germany to comply with basic human rights and environmental standards (for example prohibition of child and forced labour).
C
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Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
The unaffiliated organisation was founded in London in 2000. It aims to disclose companies’ CO2 emissions as well as their climate risks, thereby contributing to the transparency of their corporate financial reporting on climate-relevant data. In addition, the CDP conducts annual company surveys.
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Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)
US-based private-sector organisation that developed and published a standard for internal controls in 1992 that is recognised by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2004, this standard was updated and the COSO ERM (Enterprise Risk Management – Integrated Framework), also known as COSO II, was published.
D
E
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EU Taxonomy
Regulation (EU) 2020/852 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2020 on the establishment of a framework to facilitate sustainable investment, and amending Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, also known as the EU Taxonomy, and the delegated acts adopted in this regard, provide a framework defining which economic activities are considered environmentally sustainable.
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EVA (Economic Value Added)
Value-oriented key figure that depicts the absolute value contribution of a company created in a single period under consideration of a risk-adjusted interest rate. It provides information on the difference between the company profit after tax and the cost of capital on the average capital employed.
F
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Food, non-food
Under the global term food, METRO summarises the following categories of goods: fresh foods, durable foods, nutrients, frozen foods and drinks of all kinds, as well as luxury foods, dietary supplements and pet food, but also detergents, cleansers and cleaning agents, which are sometimes also labelled as near-food. All other goods are considered non-food items.
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Food Service Distribution (FSD)
FSD (Food Service Distribution) is the channel that METRO developed in recent years to expand its offer in the B2B sector. In addition to its traditional store-based offering, METRO regularly supplies selected professional customers with food (and, in some cases, non-food) products via its FSD channel. METRO commits to deliver those products based on commercial and service agreements. With the FSD channel, METRO entered into the primary supply channel for professional HoReCa businesses, while tactically extending its reach to Traders customers in selected markets. The FSD sales share in total group sales is one of the core key figures that METRO uses to measure and verify the status of sCore strategy implementation.
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Franchising
Contractually regulated form of organisation in which the franchisor grants the independent franchisees from the Traders segment the right to distribute certain goods or services using a name or trademark of the franchisor. METRO has established a wide range of franchise networks under various local brands to bolster its small, independent retail customers (Traders) against organised retail. Unlike with the classic franchise concept, the Traders in the respective national franchise networks retain their operational and financial independence and, at the same time, benefit from tailored METRO services.
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Free cash flow
Free cash flow represents the unrestricted funds generated throughout the financial year, which are primarily available for redemption of borrowings, distribution of dividends or for M&A activities. Free cash flow is calculated from cash flow from operating activities based on continuing operations plus divestments less investments (excluding financial investments), lease payments as well as net interest paid and other borrowing costs. The free cash flow defined in this manner can be derived directly from the cash flow statement.
H
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HoReCa
Short for hotel, restaurant and catering businesses, as well as bars, cafés and canteen operators. The HoReCa sector is one of METRO’s core customer groups and is one of the strategic customers under the sCore growth strategy.
M
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Multichannel business model
Dovetailing the store-based wholesale stores, whose assortments are consistently aimed at professional customers, with the delivery business and digital solutions. By combining the pick-up and delivery business, we serve the different needs of our customers in the best possible way. The online marketplace METRO MARKETS expands our delivery solution to include non-food products with a focus on the needs of HoReCa customers. The multichannel business model enables us to offer our customers a holistic shopping experience as a business partner.
N
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Net debt
The net debt results from the balance of financial liabilities (including liabilities from leases), cash and cash equivalents plus financial investments. Financial investments include short-term bank deposits and liquid debt instruments that can be sold at short notice.
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Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Key figure that measures the success and customer satisfaction of a business. A standardised customer survey provides ratings from customers that can be used to determine a comparable cross-company measured value.
The net promoter score (NPS) of strategic customers (HoReCa and Traders) in METRO countries is one of the core key figures that METRO uses to measure and verify the implementation status of the sCore strategy. The NPS is determined by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of supporters. -
Net working capital
The net working capital includes inventories, trade receivables and receivables due from suppliers included in the item other financial and non-financial assets. Trade liabilities are deducted from the total amount of these items.
O
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Own brands
Brand products with an attractive price/performance ratio developed by a retail company and protected by trademark law.
The own brand sales share is one of the core key figures that METRO uses to measure and verify the implementation status of the sCore strategy. It shows the share of own brand sales in total sales (based on the merchandise management system) excluding the segment Others.
P
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Productivity
Productivity generally refers to the ratio of output to input. METRO calculates this key figure by dividing sales (output) by the average full-time equivalents of the financial year (cost of full-time equivalents, CFTEs) incl. personnel leasing and service companies (input). For the unit of CFTE, the cost-driving working hours of all employees are converted to the full-time equivalent (100% = 1 FTE).
R
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Return on Capital Employed (RoCE)
This key figure measures the Return on Capital Employed (RoCE = EBIT/average capital employed) in a certain period under review and allows for an assessment of the performance of the group’s individual segments.
S
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sCore strategy
METRO’s growth strategy, which is aligned to the year 2030. It highlights the group’s exclusive focus on wholesale.
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Sedex audit according to SMETA
Sedex, a data platform for transparency in the sustainability commitment of companies, provides SMETA (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit), one of the world’s most frequently used concepts for social audits. The audit is focused on working conditions, occupational safety, environmental management and business ethics as well as respect for human rights and temporary employment.
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Stock availability
This is one of the core key figures that METRO uses to measure and check the implementation status of the sCore strategy. The key figure indicates whether an item to be sold to the customer is physically in stock. It is calculated as the aggregate proportion of active items in METRO countries that are in stock at the end of the day relative to the total number of active items for the day (excluding ultra-fresh, tobacco and petrol). An item is considered active if it is expected to be available for sale in the stores at the given time.
T
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Traders
The term ‘Traders’ at METRO refers to the customer group of independent resellers such as operators of small grocery stores and kiosks, street food vendors, gas stations and wholesalers. Traders are one of METRO’s core customer groups and are among the strategic customers under the sCore growth strategy.
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Transformation costs/income
Non-regularly-recurring expenses/income from strategic portfolio adjustments that are presented separately in financial reporting. Starting in financial year 2024/25, transformation costs/income will comprise not only portfolio measures, but also costs incurred in connection with group-wide restructuring initiatives.