DGAP-Adhoc

METRO sales and earnings development in the first half of 2020/21 within guidance expectation - Update of guidance for the financial year 2020/21 due to longer regulatory measures related to Covid-19

DGAP-Ad-hoc: METRO AG / Key word(s): Forecast METRO sales and earnings development in the first half of 2020/21 within guidance expectation - Update of guidance for the financial year 2020/21 due to longer regulatory measures related to Covid-19 20-Apr-2021 / 19:54 CET/CEST Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. According to preliminary figures for the first half of the 2020/21 financial year, total sales in local currencies decreased by -11.5% vs. the previous year, while EBITDA adjusted (excluding transformation costs and earnings contributions from real estate transactions) amounted to approximately EUR 490 million. Adjusted for currency effects that equals a decline of EUR -120 million vs. previous year. This development is well in line with guidance expectations for the first half of the 2020/21 financial year.

Nonetheless, the Management Board of METRO AG (METRO) has decided to update its guidance for the financial year 2020/21. The decisive exogenous factor is the continuous prolongation and a high volatility of regulatory measures related to Covid-19. These measures continue to significantly restrict public life in many of the METRO countries. METRO had assumed that re-openings of hospitality businesses would be starting in April at the latest. This appears no longer realistic on a broad scale before June. The Management Board, however, is still convinced of the fast and substantial recovery of the hospitality and tourism industry upon release of the governmental restrictions and has seen evidence of this in the countries where hospitality businesses have been reopened partially or in full.

A first half of the financial year 2020/21 in line with expectations, prolonged lockdowns coupled with unclear reopening dates and a positive outlook on the hospitality industry once re-openings can take place, leads to an updated guidance range. Based on the updated assumption of hospitality re-openings broadly between June and August, METRO now expects