GENERAL MERCHANDISE NEWS
Metro trims back Extra chain
17 November, 2004 | by Retail Bulletin
137 stores sold or closed by German retailer
Retail group Metro is to sell 137 stores from its Extra supermarket chain, streamlining its offer in the sluggish German retail market .
Metro is selling 119 Extra store to Rewe Group, with the sale effective on January 1. Another 18 Extra stores will be sold or closed. The group also plans to transfer 12 Extra stores to its Real hypermarket chain.
Since April last year, Metro has combined and integrated many of Extra’s head office functions with those of Real, and closed a number of stores already.
The latest move will incur a ‘low double digit’ million euro one-off cost, not included in its forecast of 6 to 10 per cent earnings per share growth this year.
