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METRO GROUP : ANNUAL REPORT 2010 : BUSINESS
→ GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT : 12. SUPPLEMENTARy ANd FORECAST REPORT
Metro Cash & Carry will continue its international expansion
course in 2011 and 2012, keeping its focus on the growth
regions of Asia and Eastern Europe.
Real
Sales in the German food retail industry are expected to
increase more in 2011 and 2012 than they did in 2010. This
positive trend will be primarily stimulated by hikes in
food prices, which, in turn, result from increasing commodity
prices. due to ongoing intense competition especially
on the part of discount stores, however, it is not certain
that higher purchase prices can be completely passed
on to consumers by the food retail industry. The shift in
demand towards low-price private-label products is likely
to continue unchanged as a result of the overall rise in the
price level.
The Eastern European food retail industry will continue to
grow in the next two years. In addition to food price
increases, an ongoing rise in consumer demand will positively
impact retail industry development as the recovery
from the financial and economic crisis picks up speed. A
rejuvenated expansion of the modern food retail sector will
also fuel growth. we expect the large-area hypermarkets
to remain the growth drivers and to further extend their
market share.
Real will continue to pursue and further refine its successful
strategy of the past years. In Germany, the focus in 2011 and
2012 will be on the continuation of Real’s successful repositioning.
This includes the development of promising new
formats such as “Real drive” or the online shop. Internationally,
Real will continue its systematic expansion in order to
profit from the boom in large-area hypermarkets in Eastern
Europe.
Media Markt and Saturn
The regionally divergent development in consumer electronics
retailing will continue in 2011 and 2012. This is
because developments in this industry are more susceptible
to changes in macroeconomic parameters.
The German Federal Association for Information Technology,
Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM) anticipates
the market to decline in western Europe in 2011. In
Germany, the largest western European market, experts
expect the retail industry to develop more favourably than
in most other countries in the region. For this reason, 2011
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sales in the German market will only fall slightly below
those of 2010. In the area of consumer electronics, demand
for flat-screen televisions will continue to remain high. All
in all, however, demand in Germany and western Europe
will drop in 2011 before sales pick up again in 2012 when
major sporting events are expected to boost demand. Consumer
interest in information technology products continues
to remain high. The sector trade association BITKOM,
for example, projects record sales in computers in Germany
in 2011. The Internet will continue to grow in importance
as a sales channel and increase its market share. In
light of this development, only providers that do not solely
rely on stationary sales or only on Internet sales, but combine
both sales channels to operate as multichannel providers
will benefit from this trend. Media Markt and Saturn
are already operating as multichannel providers in Austria
and the Netherlands. In 2011, this sales channel will be
expanded to Germany.
Consumer electronics retailing in Eastern Europe will continue
to grow at varying rates over the next two years. Stimulated
by the rapid recovery from the financial and economic
crisis, demand for electrical and electronic equipment in
Russia and Turkey will pick up in 2011 and 2012. we expect
sector sales in Russia to exceed those of pre-crisis levels by
2012 at the latest. In contrast to this positive trend, countries
that remain affected by the economic crisis, for example,
Greece and hungary, can expect customers’ reluctance to
spend money to persist. due to continued strong demand for
basic electrical and electronic equipment, the region of
Eastern Europe also holds enormous potential for growth
beyond 2012.
The Chinese market for electrical and electronic products is
the third-largest market worldwide behind the USA and
Japan. According to the European Information Technology
Observatory (EITO), the Chinese market will see double-digit
growth rates in 2011 and 2012 and will position itself behind
the USA as the second-largest market as early as 2012.
Media Markt and Saturn will continue their growth course
and gain additional market share over the next two years.
The unrelentingly high pace of expansion in all growth markets
will significantly contribute to the expansion of each
sales brand’s market position.