Germany's Metro AG has posted a 2.6% increase in sales in the third quarter of its financial year, to €9.34 billion. Reported sales were up 4.9%.
Reported sales in Germany were up 0.8% for the quarter to €2.97 billion. Internationally, reported sales were up 7.0% to €6.37 billion.
EBIT after special items stood at €215 million for the period, up from €68 million in the same period last year, and totalled €720 million for the first nine months of the year.
If measured over the first nine months of the year, Metro's like-for-like sales improved by 0.5% compared to the previous year. Total sales rose by 1.9% to €27.9 billion.
Operational Development
"Metro has shown a strong operational development in the first quarter that we report on as an independent, stock listed company after the demerger of Metro Group," said Olaf Koch, chairman of the management board, Metro AG.
"The sustainable sales trend shows that we have become more relevant for our customers worldwide, a large proportion of which are restaurateurs."
Koch added that it's Real hypermarket business, which saw like-for-like sales rise 2.5%, has posted a "very satisfactory" performance.
What The Analysts Said
Commenting on the performance of the group's Real division, Bruno Monteyne of Bernstein Research said, "Real Q3 EBIT before specials of -€2m ;€7m below consensus of €5m. The drop in EBIT (from +€8m last year) is due to price investments and higher marketing expenses. The Easter shift has driven a boost in LfL sales in Q3, accelerating 790 bps from the -5.4% we saw at Q2. Management highlight growth in online sales and the fact that Real is now offering online food ordering."
Elsewhere, Barclays European Food Retail Equity Research said, “The group reiterates all its medium term targets (sales growth of at least 3%, stable EBITDA margin, FCF conversion of more than 60%). For its first publication as an independent company since its spin-off, Metro W&FS delivered encouraging performances validating our assumption that the spin-off will have operational benefits for the company.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up for ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
