METRO starts with growth in all segments and channels in Q1 2023/24

06 February 2024

METRO continued its positive sales trend and the successful implementation of the sCore strategy in the first quarter of 2023/24

  • Positive sales trend continued in the first quarter 2023/24:
    • Sales adjusted for currency and portfolio effects grow by 9.1%, in local currency by 6.2%; reported sales increases slightly by 0.1% to €8.1 billion (Q1 2022/23: €8.1 billion)
    • Sales growth (portfolio and currency adjusted) in all channels: sales in store-based business grows to €6.2 billion (+5%), delivery sales to €1.9 billion (+24%) and sales of METRO MARKETS to €34 million (+62%)
  • Adjusted EBITDA reaches €404 million (Q1 2022/23: €465 million)
  • Net income1 amounts to €130 million (Q1 2022/23: €522 million, earnings per share (EPS) totals €0.36 (Q1 2022/23: €1.44); the previous year was significantly impacted by a real estate transaction and non-cash currency effects in the net financial result
  • Outlook for the financial year and growth targets by 2030 confirmed

1 Attributable to METRO shareholders

With inflation continuing to decline, sales adjusted for currency and portfolio effects increased by 9.1% and by 6.2% in local currency. All segments and channels contributed to this growth. Reported sales rose slightly by 0.1% to €8.1 billion and were heavily influenced by negative currency effects, particularly in Russia and Turkey. Adjusted EBITDA declined to €404 million (Q1 2022/23: €465 million) due to expiring license earnings from the partnership with WM Holding (HK) Limited (Wumei) and the transformation-related development in Germany.

“In the first quarter of the new financial year 2023/24, we continued our growth momentum despite a still volatile market environment. We are growing in all segments and all channels – online with METRO MARKETS, in the delivery business and in the store-based business that offers our customers attractive prices, expert advice and a constantly growing range of own brands. At the same time, we are also seeing significant progress with regard to our sCore indicators, including the digital sales share, FSD sales share and the sales share of strategic customers, which are all growing on a continuous basis. This shows: The implementation of our multichannel business model is working and the number of multichannel customers from the HoReCa segment is growing strongly by 40% compared to the prior-year quarter. For this reason, we will focus even more on acquiring multichannel customers going forward with our growing sales force and a wide range of initiatives. In addition, we are making good progress with the roll-out of our DISH POS solution in France, Germany and now in Italy. And we further strengthened the position of our subsidiary JHB in the Nordic food service sector through the acquisition of the FSD specialist Fisk i dag,” said Dr Steffen Greubel, CEO of METRO AG.

Sales growth in all segments

In Germany, sales in Q1 2023/24 grew by 3.4% in a slightly deflationary environment. Implementation of the sCore strategy made good progress. Adjusted EBITDA decreased to €66 million (Q1 2022/23: €84 million). This was impacted by expected cost inflation and continued investments in price positioning in an environment of declining inflation.

In the segment West, sales in Q1 2023/24 increased by 5.6%. France and Spain particularly contributed to this. In addition, the delivery specialists Pro à Pro France and Pro a Pro Spain achieved double-digit growth rates and, since May 2023, the sales of delivery specialist JHB have been contributing to the sales. Adjusted EBITDA increased to €179 million (Q1 2022/23: €173 million), which is attributable in particular to the positive sales performance compared with the previous year. The expected cost inflation had the opposite effect.

In Russia, sales in local currency rose considerably in Q1 2023/24 by 19.9%, following significant negative effects from cyberattacks in the previous year. Due to negative currency effects, reported sales declined significantly by -22.9% to €0.7 billion. Adjusted EBITDA decreased to €44 million (Q1 2022/23: €60 million). Adjusted for currency effects, adjusted EBITDA rose by €6 million, with the previous year having been impacted by the cyberattack.

In the segment East, sales in local currency increased by 5.2%. Nearly all countries, in particular Romania, Ukraine and Czech Republic, contributed to the growth, driven by the clearly positive development in HoReCa business. The largest sales increase was recorded in Turkey, largely due to inflation. In addition, negative currency effects – in particular in Turkey – had an effect. Adjusted EBITDA reached €140 million (Q1 2022/23: €146 million) in Q1 2023/24. Adjusted for currency effects, adjusted EBITDA in the segment East increased by €9 million.

In the segment Others, sales grew by 16% to €59 million (Q1 2022/23: €51 million), above all driven by the growth of METRO MARKETS in France and Germany in particular. The sales of DISH Digital Solutions also made a significant contribution to this growth. Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €-24 million and was thus below the level of the previous year (Q1 2022/23: €-2 million), which included the license earnings from the partnership with WM Holding (HK) Limited (Wumei) until April 2023. Additionally, further investments in digitalisation were made during the reporting period. The earnings contributions from real estate transactions amounted to €27 million (Q1 2022/23: €203 million) and are mainly the result of two real estate transactions in Turkey.

As of 31 December 2023, the store network comprised 626 stores, of which 524 were out-of-store (OoS) locations, and 80 depots.


METRO key financial figures Q1 2023/24
Financial key figures (€ million) Q1 2022/23 Q1 2023/24 Change Change in %
Sales (net) 8,107 8,115 8 0.1%
Adjusted EBITDA 465 404 -61 -13.1%
EBIT 464 227 -237 -51.0%
Earnings per share in € (basic = diluted) 1.44 0.36 -1.08 -

Multichannel development
Sales development (€ million) Q1 2022/23 Q1 2023/24 Change Ambition FY 2030
Store-based and other business 6,453 6,209 -244 ~1.2x vs. 2020/21
FSD 1,632 1,871 239 > 3 x vs. 2020/21
METRO MARKETS sales 21 34 13 -
METRO MARKETS marketplace sales1 34 52 17 > €3 billion

1 Total volumes of METRO MARKETS platform (and third-party platforms) excluding VAT and after cancellations but before any deductions; includes disposal sales in full.

Network
30 September 2023 31 December 2023 Change
Stores & Delivery (number of countries) 32 33 1
Marketplace (number of countries) 6 6 0
DISH POS2 (number of countries) 4 5 1
Stores (number of locations) 625 626 1
of which delivery OoS3 (number of locations) (529) (524) (-5)
FSD depots (number of locations) 76 80 4

2 DISH POS is a cloud-based all-in-one POS system with solutions for the hospitality industry. The product was developed by POS provider Eijsink. Following the acquisition by DISH Digital Solutions (formerly Hospitality Digital) in March 2022, the product has since been further developed and integrated into the range of digital dish tools. The system in the Netherlands and Belgium is called Booq.
3 OOS refers to the existing METRO store portfolio and includes METRO stores that supply from the store as well as stores that operate their own depot in the store.

METRO segments sales and earnings key figures Q1 2023/24

Sales (€ million) Change (€) Currency effects Change
(local currency)

Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Total 8,107 8,115 6.6% 0.1% 1.5% -6.1% 5.2% 6.2%
Germany 1,343 1,389 3.6% 3.4% 0.1% 0.0% 3.5% 3.4%
West 3,162 3,339 3.9% 5.6% 0.0% 0.0% 3.9% 5.6%
Russia 888 684 11.3% -22.9% 25.4% -42.8% -14.1% 19.9%
East 2,663 2,644 8.9% -0.7% -6.2% -5.9% 15.0% 5.2%
Others 51 59 - - - - - -



Adjusted EBITDA Transformation costs (+)/ transformation income (-) Earnings contributions (+)
from real estate
transactions
EBITDA

€ million
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Change
(€)
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Q1
2022/23
Q1
2023/24
Total 465 404 -61 -1 -3 207 28 673 436
Germany 84 66 -19 0 0 0 0 84 66
West 173 179 7 -1 0 4 1 178 181
Russia 60 44 -16 0 0 0 0 60 44
East 146 140 -6 0 0 0 0 146 140
Other -2 -24 -23 0 -3 203 27 201 6
Consolidation 4 -1 -4 0 0 0 0 4 -1

METRO is a leading international food wholesaler which specialises in serving the needs of hotels, restaurants, and caterers (HoReCa) as well as independent merchants (Traders). Around the world, METRO has approx. 17 million customers who benefit from the wholesale company’s unique multichannel mix: customers can purchase their goods in one of the large stores in their area as well as by delivery (Food Service Distribution, FSD) – all digitally supported and connected. In parallel, METRO MARKETS is being developed as an international online marketplace for the needs of professional customers which has been growing and expanding continuously since 2019. Acting sustainably is one of the company principles of METRO which has been listed in various sustainability indices and rankings, including MSCI, Sustainalytics and CDP. METRO operates in more than 30 countries and employs over 89,000 people worldwide. In financial year 2022/23, METRO generated sales of €30.6 billion.

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Further information

Quarterly Statement Q1 2023/24

06 February 2024, 18:30 CET

Q1 2023/24 Results Presentation

07 February 2024, 09:00 CET