This is evident from the annual report that has just been filed with great delay.
Losing for years
Makro Nederland was founded in 1968 and now has 17 branches with approximately 3,500 employees. The wholesaler is part of the German listed wholesale group Metro, and has been making major losses for years.
RTL Z previously calculated that Makro suffered a total of 347 million euros in losses between 2016 and 2021. On top of this is now the loss for the 2021-’22 financial year, which ended last September.
Increase in turnover
The annual accounts just filed with the Chamber of Commerce show that turnover increased that year from 801 to 936 million euros, a nice plus of almost 17 percent. However, part of that increase was not the result of higher sales, but the increased prices due to inflation.
“Stabilizing costs and increasing turnover should result in an improvement of the result in the coming financial years,” general manager Andries Govaert writes in the report.
Loss again
But for the time being this has not yet led to profit. Despite the increase in turnover, there was another loss at the bottom of the line, of 49 million euros. Although the loss is 19 million euros lower than the year before, it is not really a strong result.
Moreover, the loss evaporated the last remaining financial buffer of the wholesaler. Makro Nederland closed the year with negative equity of more than 45 million euros.
Technically bankrupt
This made the wholesaler, as they say, ‘technically bankrupt’. However, according to the report, this is not a problem, because parent company Metro guarantees the financial obligations of the Dutch subsidiary.
“Until Makro Nederland makes a profit, it will be supported by its parent company,” the wholesaler said. “If and when results improve as expected, this will have a positive impact on cash flow and result in less or no financing requirements in the future.” The company says it expects to be profitable in three to five years.
Makro filed its annual accounts this year almost six months later than usual. spokespersons for the wholesaler were still unavailable this afternoon for an explanation of the figures.
Successful in the past
For decades, Makro was a success formula in the Netherlands, and membership cards were a desirable possession. But over the past ten years the company has lost its distinctive character, partly due to the rise of food wholesalers such as Hanos and Sligro, discount supermarkets and online stores.
Last year, the parent group sold its also heavily loss-making subsidiary Makro Belgium to two corporate reorganization companies. Not much later, the Belgian company applied for a deferment of payment. Some of the stores were eventually taken over by Dutch competitor Sligro.
2023-11-06 13:05:35
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