METRO starts with growth in all segments and channels in Q1 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.