Metro Group, the world’s third largest retailer, on Thursday reported a net loss of EUR16 million (USD21m) for the first three months of 2013 against a loss of EUR79m last year. Group sales dropped 0.9 percent to EUR15.5 billion during the period, but rose 0.7 percent when sales were adjusted to reflect its recent sell-offs including Media Markt China.
Sales in Asia/Africa jumped 9.3 percent to EUR1b in the first quarter. Stripping out the effect of exchange rates, Asia/Africa sales grew 11.6 percent.
Sales in Metro Cash & Carry arm fell 2.8 percent from EUR7.3b to EUR7.1b. However, Asia/Africa sales surged 11.3 percent to EUR1b in the first quarter.
Media-Saturn, the electronics chain of Metro Group, registered a 2 percent increase in sales to EUR5.1b. Sales in Asia declined EUR14m to EUR21m due to the closure of the pilot stores in China at the beginning of March.
"In many countries, our customers’ purchasing power has been affected by the economic downturn and the related government austerity measures. However, we managed to improve our earnings and maintain our sales at a stable level year-on-year," said Olaf Koch, Chairman of the Management Board of Metro AG. "This shows that the changes we initiated on a broad front are gaining further traction."
The German retailer giant believes that there is enough room for expansion in China and plans to open 12 Cash & Carry stores in the country this year, according to China Daily.
Metro is now adopting a new strategy to bring more consumers like corporate clients and caterers under its fold to further support its retail business in China, the newspaper said.
Metro China’s president Uwe Hoelzer identified four strategic priorities, large companies and offices, welfare goods, canteens and restaurants, as well as catering to the private needs of quality-conscious customers as its growth areas, and said the retailer’s future growth is depending on both B2B and B2C businesses in the country.