Hannover, May 13 - The world's fourth-largest retailer Metro on Wednesday declined to give an outlook for the full-year citing economic uncertainties, but said it would seize opportunities to grow this year.
"I believe 2009 will indeed be a challenging one for our company but that we will also effectively seize and exploit the opportunities arising this year," Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes said in a speech prepared for the annual shareholder meeting.
Metro has shied away from giving a detailed 2009 forecast, but has said it expects less dynamic sales and earnings growth this year.