Metro – end of lockdown boosts Metro – economy


Restaurants, hotels and canteens are reopened in Germany and Europe. And the listed Metro AG, which supplies catering establishments with food and services, is looking more confidently into the future again. This prompted the former Würth manager Steffen Greubel, who has been CEO of the wholesaler for a good 90 days, to raise the previously lowered forecast again. Metro now expects a decline in sales. However, with a minus of 0.5 to 3.5 percent, this could be less than feared.

Depending on how things continue, there could even be a small pre-tax profit (Ebitda) at the end of the financial year (end of September). After the announcement, Metro shares rose 0.8 percent on Thursday. Their price level, however, is still well below the 16 euros per common share that the major Czech shareholder Daniel Křetínský had offered two years ago for the complete takeover of Metro.

In a conference call on Thursday, Greibel spoke of a “demand boom”. For hotels, restaurants and caterers, Metro recorded an increase of 57 percent compared to the previous year. In June, revenues in the area even exceeded the pre-crisis level. July also got off to a good start. How the tourism business works in the summer will be of great importance to Metro.

Similar to the retailer, the market researchers of the npdgroup also calculate with different scenarios in the catering trade. In the event that the pandemic remains under control, consumers could spend ten percent more in the area this year than in 2020. But even then, spending in 2021 would be almost 30 percent below the level of 2019. How hard the lockdown has hit the catering industry , shows the comparison of the periods April 2019 to March 2020 and April 2020 to March 2021. According to the consumer panel Crest, spending here fell by 44 percent.

Greubel said Metro used the lockdown time to provide restaurateurs with digital services. More than three million reservations were made via a metro app. The new Metro boss was optimistic about belonging to the companies that will be stronger after the crisis than they were before. He is currently working on a new corporate strategy. Greubel also checks the “country portfolio”. It cannot be ruled out that Metro will withdraw from other countries. Most recently, Metro said goodbye to China. Greubel did not say when the new strategy will be presented. It is expected to be in January 2022.

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