BERLIN (Reuters) - Metro (DE:B4B) expects net proceeds of 1.5 billion euros ($1.65 billion) from the sale of a majority stake in its China business and its struggling Real hypermarkets unit, both of which it said it hopes to close soon, the German wholesaler said on Wednesday.
Metro said last week it is entering exclusive talks on the sale of Real hypermarkets unit to a consortium led by property investor X+Bricks. It agreed the sale of a stake in its Chinese operations to local retailer Wumart in October.
Metro has been selling off non-core assets in recent years to focus on its European cash-and-carry business supplying hotels, restaurants and independent traders.
It reported earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), exclusing real estate gains, fell 4.2% to 1.173 billion euros for the 2018/19 fiscal year.
It said it expects earnings for continuing operations, excluding the China and Real units it is selling, to be at roughly the same level in 2019/20 as the 1.021 billion it reported for 2018/19.
(This story corrects outlook in final paragraph.)