{"id":416,"date":"2022-03-22T10:55:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T09:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creditanalyst.eu\/?p=416"},"modified":"2022-03-22T10:55:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T09:55:44","slug":"credit-snapshot-03-22-metro-cash-and-carry-loss-generation-continues-strategic-direction-unclear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kurtovicfinancial.com\/en\/credit-snapshot-03-22-metro-cash-and-carry-loss-generation-continues-strategic-direction-unclear\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit Snapshot 03\/22: Metro Cash and Carry – Loss generation continues, strategic direction unclear"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Metro Cash and Carry has published its annual accounts for 2021*, highlighting a rebound in sales<\/strong> with a y-o-y growth of 11,4%. However<\/strong>, this was still around 6% below the pre-pandemic level<\/strong>. Gross profit rose to a historic record<\/strong> with HRK 295m (gross margin 17,9%), yet almost fully offset by the increase in OPEX<\/strong>, as labour costs picked up following the recovery of the tourist season and the phasing out of the furlough schemes. Adjusted EBITDA stood at HRK 36m, with a margin of 2,2%. Although the performance in 2021 improved, the company continued to record a negative EBIT.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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*<\/em> Metro’s fiscal year spans from October to September.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chart below shows the company\u2019s cash flow generation over the last three years, and we can see that the company\u2019s cash position improved by HRK 157m, with key cash increase contributors being the working capital and the merger of Metro nekretnine, while the largest cash outflow relates to a reduction of debt towards the Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The results clearly depict a positive trajectory<\/strong>, however<\/strong>, it seems that the company needs much bigger scale<\/strong> to post positive results. The company\u2019s strategic direction remains unclear<\/strong> given the growth limitations of the domestic market and its investment and financial policies over the past years, which do not seem to be aligned with the overall Group\u2019s strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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