Metro posts 2.3bn-euro turnover in 2008

German group Metro, the largest player in Romanian trade sector, posted sales worth around 2.3 billion euros on the Romanian market last year, after its business had come very close to the 2 billion-euro mark in 2007, according to ZF estimates based on the contribution of the Romanian market to the group’s Eastern European turnover. Romania was a priority for the expansion of the Real hypermarket division: out of the 14 hypermarkets inaugurated worldwide by Metro in 2008, six are located on the Romanian market, reveals a report published by the German group on Tuesday. The around 150 million euros invested in the two networks operated in Romania, Metro Cash & Carry and Real aided Metro to preserve its leading position in Romanian trade in 2008, on a market where the number of retailers with over one billion-euro turnovers increases from one year to the next. The Metro group’s position would have been seriously threatened by its direct competitor Rewe Group, had it not relied heavily on the hypermarket segment over the last three years. After overall investments worth 425 million euros in expansion, the Real Hypermarket division came to account for around a quarter of Metro’s Romanian business in less than three years.