Metro raises outlook on business rebound since end of lockdowns

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German wholesale retailer Metro AG on Tuesday raised its full-year outlook on better-than-expected business since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

The company now expects full-year sales to shrink by 0.5% to 3.5%, compared with an earlier guidance of a 3%-to-6% decline.

Adjusted EBITDA will come in in a range of 50 million euros ($59 million) more to 75 million euros less than in the previous year, compared to an earlier outlook of core earnings shrinking by 50 to 175 million euros, the company said in a statement.

Metro, which counts restaurants and hotels as its most important customers, said that in its fiscal third quarter, like-for-like sales grew by 15% compared, while adjusted EBITDA increased to about 310 million euros.

($1 = 0.8448 euro)

(Reporting by Arno Schuetze; editing by Jonathan Oatis)