Metro Group has announced that sales climbed by 1.2 per cent to €66.7bn during the full-year of 2012, a result that it said represented 'robust development' in a challenging macroeconomic environment.
However, the German retailer saw net profit slide by 26.7 per cent from €979m to €717m, while earnings before interest and taxation came in at €1.98bn, down from €2.4bn in 2011.
'The continued challenging consumer environment in many European countries resulting from the sovereign debt crisis again impacted business development at Metro Group in 2012', said Olaf Koch, chairman of the management board ofMetro.'Thanks to first successes of our measures to enhance the customer value we nevertheless met our guidance and significantly improved our cash flow and debt position'
In Germany, sales rose by 0.6 per cent to €25.6bn, while International sales grew by 1.6 per cent.
In western Europe,sales dropped by 4.3 per cent to €19.8bn, attributed by the group to the challenging economic situation in southern Europe and the divestment of Makro Cash & Carry in the UK.
By contrast, sales in eastern Europe climbed by 4.8 per cent to €17.8bn, while there was 'very dynamic' growth in the Asia/Africa region of 26.2 per cent to €3.5bn.
For 2013, the retailer said that it expected moderate sales growth, but warned that earnings would be impacted by the uncertain economic situation.
