By Matthijs Smit··Modified:
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The wholesale chain Makro Netherlands posted a net loss of €4.3 million last year. That seems like a big step up from previous years, when losses were always in the tens of millions. But the progress is due only to one-off gains from the sale of real estate, among other things.
This is evident from the latest annual accounts for 2023, which Macro submitted to the Chamber of Commerce this month. The net loss on turnover, which excludes one-off income, looks much less favourable. It stands at €41.3 million, compared to -€45.8 million in 2022.
Wholesale Giant
Macro Netherlands has 17 large subsidiaries and employs around 2,500 people and is part of the German-listed wholesale giant Metro. The parent group has a turnover of around EUR 30 billion and employs around 90,000 people.
Dutch retailer Makro has suffered heavy losses in recent years, according to previous reports from RTL Z.
Decrease in trading volume
Last year, based on the latest annual accounts, Macro Nederland’s performance does not seem bad at first glance. Turnover fell by 8 percent in the 2023 financial year to EUR 860 million. But the net loss fell from EUR 49 million in 2022 to EUR 4.3 million. That seems very optimistic.
However, a closer examination shows that this was mainly due to a one-off gain of €46.8 million. Makro Nederland sold fixed assets last year, including the real estate subsidiary Metro Properties, to other subsidiaries of parent company Metro. This resulted in a gain of €46.8 million.
Real estate deal
Last December, RTL Z revealed that Metro was preparing to move these valuable business units elsewhere. The transaction description in the annual accounts at the time showed that Metro had taken into account the bankruptcy of its Dutch subsidiary. This is unthinkable, since the loss-making subsidiaries of Makro Belgium had already gone bankrupt at the beginning of 2023.
At that time, it also emerged that Macro Nederland's financial reserves had melted away due to years of losses. With a negative value of EUR 45 million, the wholesale chain was, as they say, “technically bankrupt” at the time. The latest annual accounts show that the capital position has deteriorated even further, to almost EUR 50 million negative.
survival
Makro Nederland wrote in the report that it does not fear for its survival, as it can borrow “more than enough” from parent company Metro to meet its financial obligations for at least the next 12 months.
In an interview in April in the trade magazine RetailTrends, CEO Anders Govaert was positive about Makro Nederland’s future prospects. In response, Govaert now says he remains supportive. “Makro has started a cautious upward trend.”
Different definition
Govaert confirms that Macro has started a new strategy in 2022, aiming to become “the most cost-effective catering wholesaler in the Netherlands”. According to him, the company’s net loss is less important than the operating result. This is a simplified definition of results, and does not include a number of cost items.
“We have achieved a much lower operating loss in 2023. This loss has decreased from €13 million to €7.3 million. We expect to reach the operating break-even point this year,” says Govert.
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