METRO Wholesale

The segment comprises both the stationary business (METRO Cash & Carry) and the delivery business (food service distribution).

METRO Cash & Carry is one of the leading international wholesale and operates 759 wholesale stores under the METRO and MAKRO brands across 25 countries in Europe and Asia. Its more than 21 million commercial customers worldwide are mainly hotels, restaurants, catering companies, independent retailers as well as service providers and authorities, to which the company offers a portfolio of products and solutions that has been tailored to their specific requirements.

In the area of food service distribution (FSD), METRO maintains a strong international presence with its METRO Delivery Service and the specialist companies Classic Fine Foods, Pro à Pro and Rungis Express. Classic Fine Foods is an Asian fine-food delivery specialist. The company delivers products to premium customers, such as 5-star hotels and upmarket restaurants in Asia and the Middle East. Pro à Pro has been augmenting this area since February 2017. The company delivers products to commercial customers across France, in particular in the fields of corporate catering, canteens and system catering. Rungis Express is an important food delivery company in Germany that mainly caters to customers.

METRO Wholesale
(previously METRO Cash & Carry)

METRO Cash & Carry launched the in financial year 2015/16 to improve its business management. As part of the introduction of the New Operating Model, the METRO Cash & Carry countries were classified into the clusters HoReCa, , Trader and Others.

Supported by positive currency effects among other factors, ’s reported sales for financial year 2016/17 increased by 3.0% to €29.9 billion. Since its acquisition in February 2017, Pro à Pro also contributed to the overall sales revenue with approximately €470 million. The company is one of the leading food service distribution providers (FSD) in France. Sales rose by 2.3% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased by 0.9%. Like-for-like sales increased in all quarters and have now risen in every quarter for 4 years in a row.

The delivery business of METRO Wholesale continued to develop highly dynamically. Sales in financial year 2016/17 rose by more than 25% to more than €4.6 billion. The share of sales attributable to the delivery business for the entire year amounts to 15.6%. The acquisition of Pro à Pro has also contributed to this.

Sales of METRO Wholesale 2016/17

by clusters

Sales of METRO Wholesale 2016/17 (pie chart)

Reported sales in the HoReCa cluster rose by 3.1% in financial year 2016/17. Sales rose by 4.5% in local currency. Like-for-like sales increased slightly by 0.3%. Especially Turkey contributed to the growth in like-for-like sales, while Germany recorded a decline.

In the Multispecialist cluster, sales increased by 3.7% in financial year 2016/17. Sales rose by 0.5% in local currency. Like-for-like sales slightly increased by 0.5%. Russia and the Netherlands recorded declining sales, in particular, while China, Pakistan and India achieved significant increases.

In the Trader cluster, sales increased by 3.3% in financial year 2016/17. Measured in local currency, sales in the cluster rose by 3.9%. Sales rose by as much as 5.5% like-for-like. With the exception of Poland, like-for-like sales climbed in all countries.

before  amounted to €1,114 million (2015/16: €1,048 million), supported by positive currency effects amounting to €37 million. Adjusted for these effects, EBIT before special items improved by €29 million. This particularly includes 2 real estate transactions in China, which contributed approximately €80 million (Q2) and €30 million (Q4) to the result. In the , material real estate transactions only accounted for €34 million. Before these real estate transactions and currency effects, EBIT before special items amounted to €47 million less than the previous year. This decline is in particular attributable to developments in Russia, the Netherlands and Belgium, which could not be offset by earnings improvements in most of the other METRO Cash & Carry companies.

at METRO Wholesale totalled €1,035 million in financial year 2016/17 (2015/16: €1,271 million). This decrease was due in particular to income from the sale of the activities in Vietnam during the previous year (€446 million). Adjusted for the one-time income gained from the Vietnamese sale in the , the  are considerably below the previous year’s level due to fewer restructuring activities.

On 30 September 2017, METRO Wholesale operated 759 stores located in 25 countries. Of these stores, 104 were in Germany, 239 in Western Europe (excluding Germany), 283 in Eastern Europe and 133 in Asia. Additional countries were covered by the activities of Classic Fine Foods and Rungis Express. Overall, METRO Wholesale has operations in 35 countries.

(XLS:) XLS

METRO Wholesale key figures for 2016/17 in year-on-year comparison

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change in % compared with the previous year’s period

 

 

2015/16
€ million

 

2016/17
€ million

 

in group currency (€)

Currency effects in percentage points1

in local currency

like-for-like sales in local currency

1

The currency effect is calculated by comparing reported sales of the current financial year in euros with sales of the previous period, converted at the average exchange rate of the current financial year.

2

Before special items.

3

Before special items; the EBIT margin shows the EBIT/sales ratio.

Sales

 

29,000

 

29,866

 

3.0

0.7

2.3

0.9

HoReCa

 

13,993

 

14,429

 

3.1

−1.4

4.5

0.3

Multispecialist

 

12,066

 

12,518

 

3.7

3.3

0.5

0.5

Trader

 

2,802

 

2,895

 

3.3

−0.5

3.9

5.5

Others

 

138

 

23

 

–

–

–

–

EBIT2

 

1,048

 

1,114

 

–

–

–

–

EBIT margin (%)3

 

3.6

 

3.7

 

–

–

–

–

Locations (number)

 

752

 

759

 

–

–

–

–

Selling space (1,000 m2)

 

5,380

 

5,307

 

–

–

–

–
Wholesale, METRO Wholesale
The METRO Wholesale segment comprises the METRO Cash & Carry sales line of METRO AG with more than 750 wholesale markets across 25 countries worldwide. The delivery business (food service distribution) is also part of this segment, with companies like METRO Delivery Service and the delivery specialists Classic Fine Foods, Pro à Pro and Rungis Express.
Glossary
Trader
The term “Trader” at METRO Cash & Carry refers to the customer group of independent resellers such as operators of small grocery stores and kiosks, street food vendors, gas stations and wholesalers.

Since financial year 2015/16, the Trader cluster comprises the METRO Cash & Carry countries Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. The HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
HoReCa
Short for hotel, restaurant and catering businesses. The HoReCa sector is a key customer group for METRO Cash & Carry. Due to their strategic focus on HoReCa customers, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Classic Fine Foods have been attributed to the HoReCa cluster since financial year 2015/16. The new HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
New Operating Model
Organisational and management model at METRO Cash & Carry, which was introduced in 2015. It is supposed to foster an entrepreneurial spirit within the organisation by transferring greater responsibility and creative freedom to the national subsidiaries. At the same time, measures geared towards specific customer groups (for example, for hotels, restaurants and catering firms) are cross-nationally coordinated.
Glossary
Multispecialist
METRO Cash & Carry countries with a strategic focus on both customers in the HoReCa segment and customers in the Trader and SCO segments have been attributed to the Multispecialist cluster since financial year 2015/16. These include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, India, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The new HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
Wholesale, METRO Wholesale
The METRO Wholesale segment comprises the METRO Cash & Carry sales line of METRO AG with more than 750 wholesale markets across 25 countries worldwide. The delivery business (food service distribution) is also part of this segment, with companies like METRO Delivery Service and the delivery specialists Classic Fine Foods, Pro à Pro and Rungis Express.
Glossary
Trader
The term “Trader” at METRO Cash & Carry refers to the customer group of independent resellers such as operators of small grocery stores and kiosks, street food vendors, gas stations and wholesalers.

Since financial year 2015/16, the Trader cluster comprises the METRO Cash & Carry countries Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine. The HoReCa, Multispecialist and Trader clusters replace the previous reporting regions of Germany, Western Europe, Eastern Europe and Asia.
Glossary
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes)
This key figure is used for the international comparison of companies.
Glossary
Special items
Business transactions or a number of uniform business transactions that do not recur regularly, that are reflected in the income statement and that have a significant impact on business activities are classified as special items. As a result, the presentation of special items better reflects ordinary business performance and contributes to a better understanding of the earnings position.
Glossary
Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in the annual report.
Glossary
EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes)
This key figure is used for the international comparison of companies.
Glossary
Previous year
Period of 12 months, usually cited as reference for statements in the annual report.
Glossary
Special items
Business transactions or a number of uniform business transactions that do not recur regularly, that are reflected in the income statement and that have a significant impact on business activities are classified as special items. As a result, the presentation of special items better reflects ordinary business performance and contributes to a better understanding of the earnings position.
Glossary