Metro Group's Cash & Carry business up in H1 | Progresiv

Metro Group has said that like-for-like sales at its Cash & Carry operation rose 0.4% in the first half of its 2016/17 financial year. Total sales were up 2.3%, to 14.9 billion euros, for the division, which was boosted by positive currency effects and the acquisition of Pro à Pro in France, which became part of the group in February.

The group said that its Cash & Carry delivery sales were up 23% in the period, to 2.1 billion euros, with the delivery end of the business reaching a new record high of 14.2% – again, boosted by Pro à Pro. Overall, like-for-like sales for continuing operations increased by 0.1% in H1 2016/17.

The group’s Real hypermarket business saw a 3.4% decline in like-for-like sales in the period, mainly due to store disposals, the company said, as well as an increase in food prices. "Due to nine store closures, sales fell more steeply, by 7.8%, to 1.7 billion euros year to year," the company said, noting, however, that online sales were up 40%.

Metro Group is in a period of transition, and the results posted represent a ‘change in the presentation of key financials’ as a result of the planned demerger of the business.

“We are on the home straight of the demerger of Metro Group into two strong, successful and strategically focused companies,” said Olaf Koch, chairman of the management board of Metro AG. Commenting on the group’s performance in the second quarter of the year, Koch added, “The positive trend in terms of the sales performance of Metro Cash & Carry and MediaMarktSaturn continued. The transformation of Metro Group towards a customer-centric company is progressing further. With the delivery business, we have reached a new record regarding the share of total sales of Metro Cash & Carry. We have also seen strong growth in online sales.” (www.esmmagazine.com)