BERLIN (Reuters) - German retailer Metro (DE:MEOG) forecast a slight rise in operating profit and sales for the 2016/17 fiscal year after it reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter operating profit for the food and wholesale business it hopes to spin off next year.
Metro, which had reported fourth-quarter sales in October, said on Wednesday earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) before special items rose 31 percent to 568 million euros (478.22 million pounds), beating average analyst forecasts for 471 million.
Fourth-quarter EBIT at its cash and carry business rose 14 percent to 306 million, beating analyst consensus for 256 million. Metro plans to spin off the unit, along with its Real hypermarkets, assuming it gets shareholder approval on Feb. 6.
For the 2016/17 fiscal year that started in October, it expects a slight rise in overall sales and a slight improvement in EBIT before special items above the 1.56 billion achieved in 2015/16 despite slightly lower income from real estate sales.
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