Metro's sales in Romania, affected by difficult economic environment

German retailer Metro has reported that its revenues from Romania were affected by the difficult macroeconomic conditions in the first quarter of 2011. Otherwise, the company had a 2.5 percent sales growth in Eastern Europe in the first quarter, reaching almost EUR 4 billion. “While in Romania the sales evolution was affected by the difficult macroeconomic conditions, in Russia the revenues recorded a double-digit growth, in comparable terms,” writes a report issued by the German group. “The evolution of the revenues in Romania reflects the difficult macroeconomic conditions, and also the solid basis of last year,” the report goes on. Overall, Metro recorded in first quarter sales of EUR 7.03 billion, 1.1 percent higher than the same period of last year. Metro Group runs Metro Cash & Carry and Real stores in Romania. Alex Camburu, alex.camburu@romania-insider.com