The German economy
continues to spur growth while reinforcing its standing as a key global
location for direct investment. The country has the most attractive business
environment in Europe and the fifth worldwide.
The Germany’s FDI stocks
increased to approximately EUR 50 billion. There are more than 55,000 foreign
companies are operating in Germany which are employing around three million
people. Today I would like to look at one of the best dividend stocks in Germany which is paying a favorable
dividend yield.
Metro AG
Profile
It is a German
global diversified retail and wholesale company. The company has the largest
market shares in its home market, and is one of the most globalized retail and
wholesale corporations. It operates of portfolio of sales brands which offers a
range of services for private and commercial customers. The company is the
fifth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues. It was established in
1964 by Otto Beisheim.
Its portfolio
includes Metrol Cash & Carry brand which is active in the self-service
wholesale industry, Real hypermarkets brand, which operates the Real stores
across Europe offering both food and non-food products, Media market brand
which is active on the European market in the consumer electronics retailing
industry; Saturn brand, which operates consumer electronics stores and Galeria
Kaufhof brand, under which the company operates department stores in Germany
and Belgium. The company is also involved in the Real Estate management
services of its own real estate, logistics services of its distribution and
procurement network, supporting its IT solutions and Advertising servicing.
History
Metro was
founded in 1996 within a period of only ten months through a merger of the
retail companies Asko Deutsche kaufhaus AG, Kaufhof Holdings AG and Deutsche
SB-Kauf AG. At that time the company had a market capitalization of 12.07
billion German marks. It was one of the 20 largest publicly listed companies in
Germany. In 1999 the company liquidated its retail properties. This gave the
company leeway for key investments, which accelerate its growth in wholesale
and retail. Additionally the company continues to consistently expand its
international presence: 16 Metro Cash & Carry wholesale outlets, ten Real
hypermarkets and 47 nonfood specialty centers open abroad.
In the year of
2000 the company had developed into an internationally oriented company with
decentralized management teams. The group employed approximately 220, 000
people in 22 countries. For the first time the group released its financial
statement for the year 2000 in accordance to the International Accounting
Standards (IAS) to achieve greater transparency in its accounting. In this year
the company ranked no. 18 among DAX 3 among DAX 30 companies. The Metro Share
was one of the 20 most traded DAX stocks. In 2009 the company has more weigh to
the subject sustainability, making it an integral part of its corporate
strategy by founding a Sustainability Committee.
Strategy
In 2011 Metro
Group refocused its strategy to boost its competitiveness across all sales
lines. The company is also boosting its
performance strength by increasing its margins and improving its cost position
and cash flow. To this end it focuses its entire team on creating value for
customers on the basis of five priorities which include Transform, Grow,
Improve, Expand, and Innovate.
Why invest in Metro
When you invest
in Metro Group which is the world’s fourth-largest retail company you will find
many advantages. There are many reasons to invest in this company such as:
- The company is no. 1 in consumer electronics retailing in Europe. It is a leading company in the department store segment in Germany and Belgium.
- It has a unique international portfolio of commercial real estate properties.
- The company is present in more than 30 countries with outstanding market positions in emerging and developed markets worldwide.
- It works with a strategy of profitable growth as well as sustainable and consequent value enhancement.
- The company also has high self-financing ability and above-average return on equity compared to competitors.
Dividend history
At the present
time, the company has a market capitalization of 9.80 Billion, EPS is 0.67, P/E
ratio is 44.66 and the dividend yield is 3.33% at the annual dividend payout of
1.00.
For more information related to Dividend
Stocks in Germany please visit the site DividendInvestor.de