It rarely happens that Metro AG, the big German cash & carry and retail operator, is pleased with the performance of Galeria Kaufhof, its chain of department stores and sports shops. But Olaf Koch, Metro's chief executive, even said this time, “Kaufhof was super.” As reported earlier this year, when Metro put out its unaudited figures for 2012, Kaufhof's sales were up by just 0.9 percent to €3.1 billion.

On a comparable store basis, Kaufhof's turnover was down by 0.6 percent, which was better than the 4.4 percent decline of the previous year. However, Kaufhof's earnings before interest (Ebit) and non-recurring factors jumped by 12.4 percent to €136 million. Much like its German archrival Karstadt, Kaufhof has reduced its ranges of consumer electronics and other low-margin categories in favor of apparel, accessories and sporting goods.

Besides its German department stores, Kaufhof operates 13 specialty sporting goods stores under the Sportarena banner in the country and some department stores in Belgium. In 2012, Kaufhof opened one store and shut down four, taking the total number of doors, including those in Belgium and those of Sportarena, down to 137.

Altogether, the Metro group grew only moderately, with total sales of €66.7 billion representing an increase of 1.2 percent in euros and 0.8 percent in local currencies. The turnover was up by 2.3 percent excluding some cash & carry operations in France and the U.K., where Metro divested last year. German sales improved by 0.6 percent to €25.6 billion.

The operating profit (Ebit) was €1,976 million before non-recurring items, but after them it amounted to €1,391 million, down sharply from around €2.3 billion in 2011. The charges were mainly due to restructuring efforts and value adjustments because of divestments in the U.K. and Eastern Europe as well as Media Markt's pullout from China. The net profit was tremendously down from €741 million in 2011 to €101 million after non-recurring items.

Metro's board decided to switch its financial year, which used to be in line with the calendar year, to a period from October to September. Therefore, the current fiscal year will have only nine months and will not include the critical Christmas holiday business.