Expansion drives Metro growth in 2003
growth at its expanding international business offsetting the
continued depression in its home market.
Metro said that total sales growth for 2003 was 5.7 per cent, in line with its expectations, with turnover reaching €53.6 billion. The international expansion of the group meant that exchange rate fluctuations had an adverse effect, although sales were still 4 per cent higher than the previous year even taking this into account.
The only real disappointment was the sluggish 1.3 per cent growth in fourth quarter sales in Germany, where the economy is still struggling to come out of recession, but this was offset by a 10.4 per cent increase in foreign sales (or 6.2 per cent after currency exchanges).
Hans-Joachim Körber, CEO of Metro, said that he expected to see sales growth in the region of 6 to 10 per cent in the coming years as the company continues to expand its overseas operations.
The cash & carry business, Metro's biggest trading arm, had an excellent year, helped by a number of new store openings in France, the UK, Italy, India, Romania, Spain, Russia, Belgium and Croatia, which again helped offset a poor performance at home.
The food retail business, which trades under the Real and Extra fascias in Germany, saw a decline in like-for-like sales during the fourth quarter, again due to the weak domestic economy, while the Media Markt/Saturn Consumer Electronics Centers ended the year strongly both at home and abroad, though not strongly enough to offset the impact of very poor sales in Germany at the start of the year.
A total of 60 new stores were added to the Metro portfolio during the year, taking the total to 2,370 outlets. Including new market entries in Ukraine and India in 2003, Metro is now present in 28 countries worldwide.
Full 2003 figures will be released in March.
