Germany's Metro Group has revealed that sales and earnings both increased through the second quarter of the year, continuing on from what it called the 'positive sales trend' of the opening three months of 2012.
Sales for the second quarter climbed 1.8 per cent year-on-year, up to €15.8bn from €15.6bn. In the group's home market, sales climbed 1.9 per cent to €5.9m, while there was also growth in Eastern Europe (up 1.6 per cent to €4.2bn) and Africa/Asia (up 34.4 per cent to €800m).
However, the ongoing economic difficulties across much of western Europe was reflected in Metro's loss of 2 per cent in sales for the region, down to €4.9bn.
This sales rise, along with sustainable cost-cutting measures, helped contribute to an increase in earnings before special items of 2.5 per cent when compared with the second quarter of 2011, up from €306m to €314m.
'We have picked up speed despite the headwind: our focus on sustainable growth is paying off,' said Olaf Koch, chairman of the management board of Metro AG. 'Meanwhile, we are already seeing first positive effects on earnings. This encourages us to continue on the path taken. We remain convinced that we can achieve an EBIT roughly at the prior year's level.'
The persistently difficult economic situation and the slowing price increases would most likely have a negative impact on sales in 2012, the group predicted, although it pointed out that all sales divisions were taking numerous measures to boost sales.
'We expect sales to rise in the full year, also on account of the positive development in H1 2012,' the group noted.
