METRO finishes financial year 2018/19 with strong sales growth and confirms EBITDA outlook
24 October 2019DownloadAll stated figures refer to the guidance view, thus include METRO China, unless stated otherwise. The contract of the disposal of METRO China was signed on 11 Oct. 2019, METRO China will be reported as discontinued operations as of 30 Sep. 2019.
- Strong Q4 2018/19 with 2.5% like-for-like sales growth and 3.9% total sales growth
- Growth was particularly driven by Eastern Europe (excl. Russia), Western Europe (excl. Germany) and Asia
- FY 2018/19 like-for-like sales growth of 2.4% in line with the guidance range (guidance: 1-3%)
- EBITDA outlook for financial year 2018/19 confirmed
These sales results are in line with the guidance range of 1-3% in the financial year 2018/19. Due to currency headwinds, METRO AG’s total sales in the financial year 2018/19 increased by 1.5% to €29.9 billion. “In the past financial year, we accelerated our sales growth as a result of our transformation into a fully focused wholesaler. Eastern Europe (excl. Russia) and Asia again saw strong growth. Western Europe (excl. Germany) has improved compared to the previous year”, said Olaf Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of METRO AG. “On this basis, we can confirm the EBITDA outlook for the financial year 2018/19. After the sale of the majority stake in METRO China, our core customer groups HoReCa and Trader will account for 70%1 of sales. We are very satisfied with this strategic progress.”
1 Excluding METRO China, based on FY 2018/19.
HoReCa and Trader remain growth drivers
HoReCa (hotel, restaurant, catering) and Trader customers have contributed in particular to the positive sales growth. The delivery business continued
its successful development and has further increased its contribution to overall sales.
In Germany, METRO slightly increased like-for-like sales by 0.3% in the financial year 2018/19. Western Europe (excl. Germany) achieved an increase in like-for-like sales by 1.3% with solid growth that was particularly driven by France, delivery specialist Pro à Pro, Spain and Portugal. Russia (-4.3%) shows trend improvement against the previous year; however, the market environment remains challenging. Eastern Europe excl. Russia (6.3%) and Asia (5.1%) remain growth drivers for METRO.
In Q4 2018/19, METRO increased like-for-like sales by a strong 2.5%. This growth has mainly been driven by Eastern Europe (excl. Russia) and Asia. Western Europe (excl. Germany) showed strong growth compared to the previous year. Russia has posted negative like-for-like sales due to the ongoing repositioning process. In Q4 2018/19, METRO’s reported sales grew by 3.9% to €7.6 billion total sales. This was due to positive currency effects. In local currency, sales grew by 2.7%.
As of 30 September 2019, the store network includes 775 stores, 6 stores more than on the same date in the previous year (each 1 in Croatia, Russia and Turkey and 3 in China).
The B2B online marketplace METRO Markets, which launched in mid-September 2019 in Germany and is specially oriented to HoReCa customers, has over the course of just one month grown to offer around 65,000 non-food articles from 70 partners.
Financial year 2018/19 (as will be reported in the annual report 2018/19)
As a result of the sale of a majority stake in METRO China (signed 11 October 2019), METRO China will be reported as of 30 September 2019 as discontinued operations according to IFRS 5. Adjusted for this transaction, METRO’s like-for-like sales grew at 2.1% in 2018/19 and total sales grew by 1.1% to €27.1 billion in 2018/19.
Summary
METRO achieves its sales targets for the financial year 2018/19 and confirms the EBITDA outlook for the financial year 2018/19.
METRO
| METRO | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | Q4 2017/18 | Q4 2018/19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales (€ billion) | 29.5 | 29.9 | 7.3 | 7.6 |
| Change (€) | -1.4% | 1.5% | -1.7% | 3.9% |
| Change (local currency) | 1.5% | 2.5% | 1.5% | 2.5% |
| Like-for-like (local currency) | 1.3% | 2.4% | 1.7% | 2.5% |
| METRO |
Sales (€ billion) | Change (€) | Change (local currency) |
Like-for-like (local currency) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
| 29.5 | 29.9 | -1.4% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 2.5% | 1.3% | 2.4% | |
| Germany | 4.8 | 4.7 | 0.3% | -0.5% | 0.3% | -0.6% | 0.9% | 0.3% |
| Western Europe (excl. Germany) | 10.6 | 10.8 | 1.7% | 1.3% | 1.7% | 1.3% | -0.4% | 1.3% |
| Russia | 2.8 | 2.7 | -16.3% | -5.4% | -8.0% | -3.3% | -7.0% | -4.3% |
| Eastern Europe (excl. Russia) | 7.0 | 7.2 | 1.0% | 3.4% | 5.6% | 6.4% | 6.1% | 6.3% |
| Asia | 4.3 | 4.5 | -1.4% | 5.7% | 4.4% | 6.3% | 4.0% | 5.1% |
| METRO |
Sales (€ billion) | Change (€) | Change (local currency) |
Like-for-like (local currency) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Q4 2017/18 | Q4 2018/19 | Q4 2017/18 | Q4 2018/19 | Q4 2017/18 | Q4 2018/19 | Q4 2017/18 | Q4 2018/19 |
| 7.3 | 7.6 | -1.7% | 3.9% | 1.5% | 2.7% | 1.7% | 2.5% | |
| Germany | 1.2 | 1.2 | -0.9% | 0.0% | -0.9% | 0.0% | -0.3% | 0.6% |
| Western Europe (excl. Germany) | 2.7 | 2.7 | -0.1% | 2.0% | -0.1% | 2.0% | -0.7% | 2.2% |
| Russia | 0.6 | 0.6 | -16.1% | 2.2% | -7.7% | -5.2% | -6.6% | -6.3% |
| Eastern Europe (excl. Russia) | 1.8 | 1.9 | -1.9% | 7.0% | 6.2% | 5.4% | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| Asia | 1.1 | 1.2 | 5.2% | 8.2% | 8.1% | 7.0% | 7.3% | 5.7% |
| METRO excl. China | Sales (€ billion) | Change (€) | Change (local currency) |
Like-for-like (local currency) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2018/19 |
| 26.8 | 27.1 | -1.5% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 2.2% | 1.3% | 2.1% | |
Disclaimer
This sales report contains preliminary, unaudited figures and forward-looking statements. These statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations held at the time this report is published. Preliminary figures and forward-looking statements are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties and may significantly deviate from the actual results. With regard to forward-looking statements in particular, risks and uncertainties are to a large extent determined by factors that are outside of METRO’s sphere of influence and that can currently not be estimated with an adequate degree of certainty. These factors include, inter alia, future market conditions and economic developments, the actions of other market participants, the utilisation of anticipated synergy effects as well as legislative and political decisions.
METRO does not consider itself obliged to publish any corrections to these forward-looking statements for the purpose of adjusting them to events or circumstances that eventuate after the publishing date of these materials.
METRO is a leading international wholesale company with food and non-food assortments that specialises on serving the needs of hotels, restaurants and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent traders. Around the world, METRO has some 24 million buying customers who can choose whether to shop in one of the large-format stores, order online and collect their purchases at the store or have them delivered. METRO in addition also supports the competitiveness of entrepreneurs and freelancers with digital solutions and thereby contributes to cultural diversity in retail and hospitality. Sustainability is a key pillar of METRO’s business. METRO has been the sector leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index in Europe. The company operates in 36 countries and employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2017/18, METRO generated sales of €36.5 billion. In September 2018 METRO AG initiated the divestment process for the food retail chain Real with its 34,000 employees.
