ROMANIA: After six years, Metro Cash & Carry sales return on plus | Progresiv
Metro Cash & Carry Romania ended the financial year 2015-2016, which corresponds to the period October 1 2015 - September 30 2016, with a turnover of 904 million euros, up by 2% from the previous fiscal year when the retailer reported a turnover of 887 million euros, according to data provided by the company. This is the first year when the retailer’s sales return on plus after a period of six years in which Metro Cash & Carry has reported constant decreases, this year’s evolution being sustained by the VAT reduction, as well as increased consumption. 
In the period under review, the chain closed the store it operated in Braila, the total cash & carry units operated locally reaching 30 units compared to 31 in fiscal year 2013/2014.
The sales of the four Real hypermarkets that Metro owned on the local market - after the sale of 20 stores to Auchan in 2012 - were on plus in financial year 2015-2016, marking an advance of 16% over the previous fiscal year, up to 57 million euros. The four stores operate in Oradea, Constanta, Arad and Suceava.
In Romania, Metro owns 25 Metro Cash & Carry stores, 5 smallers units Metro Punct, a platform for online commerce, as well as the La Doi Pasi franchise. In the past three years, more retailers have come out of the franchise, reducing the number of stores in the chain from over 700 to about 430 units currently.
At group level, Metro Cash & Carry division recorded a like-for-like sales advance from 0.6% to 28.99 billion euros in fiscal year 2015/2016. Regardgin the group performance, Metro saw a slight increase in comparable sales, of 0.2%, reaching 58.41 billion euros.
