METRO Wholesale: development in the self-service wholesale trade sector

The global development of the self-service wholesale trade sector in financial year 2019/20 will remain positive, contrary to the general economic trend. Again, the contribution of the individual regions will vary. This also applies to the regions in which METRO operates. Growth will be stronger in Europe than in Asia.

In comparison to the reporting period, we expect financial year 2019/20 to exhibit stronger growth in sales for cash and carry companies operating in Germany. Further sales growth is forecast for the hospitality industry sector, which represents an important customer group for METRO.

The self-service wholesale trade sector in Western Europe will increase in nominal terms in the forecast year after only slight growth in financial year 2018/19, especially in the METRO countries France, Austria and Portugal. The hospitality industry sector is also likely to develop positively, especially in Portugal and Spain.

In Russia, we expect strong decline in the self-service wholesale trade sector. However, we expect sales growth for our core customer groups HoReCa and Traders.

In Central and Eastern European countries, the self-service wholesale trade sector will likely grow again in financial year 2019/20, especially in countries such as Turkey and Hungary. Despite the difficult economic environment, we believe that the HoReCa industry sector will grow in Turkey, supported by the fact that tourism is picking up again. We expect the HoReCa and Traders sectors to continue their strong growth momentum, particularly in Romania and Poland.

The cash & carry markets in Asia, particularly in Japan and India, are forecast to deliver stable economic growth in financial year 2019/20.