For years, Metro paid out 70 cents per share to its shareholders. But thanks to an expensive corporate restructuring and a new dividend policy, investors are now looking into the tube for the second year in a row. However, the board knows that the largest investor is behind them.
The shareholders of the Metro retail group are not likely to receive any dividends for the fiscal year that ended in September either. After there was already no distribution for 2020/21, things are not looking any better in 2021/22, as Metro boss Steffen Greubel clearly indicated in an interview with the "Börsen-Zeitung".
The reason for this is the considerable special charges, which led to a net loss of almost 400 million euros in the first nine months. "These burdens are the main reason why we had negative earnings per share after nine months and would therefore not distribute them according to our dividend policy," Greubel told the newspaper.
Greubel seems to know that his anchor shareholders, above all the Czech investor Daniel Kretinsky, are behind him. The growth plans have been coordinated with the Supervisory Board. "What I don't want is to sell silverware on measures like sale-and-lease-back or something similar in order to be able to pay dividends," said Greubel.
Before the manager came to the top of the wholesaler's board of directors in May 2021, Metro had continuously paid 0.70 euros per share for years - regardless of the result. That ended last year.
Greubel wants to convert the retail group into a full-blooded wholesaler. Wholesale in the food sector means offering professional customers from the catering and hotel industry a delivery service and a digital offer in addition to the store. "First of all, this consistent orientation costs money," the manager asks for understanding. "The alternative would be to be half a wholesaler and a bad hypermarket operator."
