Wholesale giant Metro AG expects sales growth of between 3% and 7% in its 2021/22 full year, after the business met expectations in its current full-year period.
Full-year sales for the 2020/21 period came in at €24.8 billion, which was down 3.4% in euro-denominated terms due to negative currency effects in Russia and Turkey. Adjusted EBITDA was up €72 million to €1.17 billion.
In a statement, Metro cited 'intensified customer relationships as well as investments in the business model and digitalisation' as contributing factors to its full-year performance.
Hospitality Industry Recovery
The group's recovery was largely evident in the second half of the year, as the business said that it 'benefited overproportionately' from the recovery of the hospitality industry, particularly in Western and Eastern Europe.
It added approximately 250,000 new HoReCa customers in the period, growing market share in the HoReCa channel in Germany, Spain, Italy, France and Russia. Delivery sales grew by 47% during the period, and now account for 17% of total sales.
'Demonstrated Its Growth Potential'
“In the past financial year, Metro has proven its resilience and demonstrated its growth potential," commented Dr Steffen Greubel, CEO of Metro AG. "We have invested in our future growth so that we can emerge from the pandemic stronger together with our customers.
"The synergies between wholesale stores, delivery business and digitalisation have helped us to strengthen our customers’ trust in Metro, thus reinforcing their loyalty to us. [...] All of this gives us momentum in an economic environment that remains challenging. Our multichannel mix is the foundation for us to execute our growth strategy in the coming years.”
Approximately €65 million in transformation costs were incurred in the full year, which were mainly attributable to the final quarter and relate to the market exits from Japan and Myanmar, as well as the withdrawal of Classic Fine Foods from the Philippines.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
