Metro stretches its balance sheet with bite-sized commercial property deals

MAINBOARD-LISTED Metro was once accused by a shareholder of holding too much cash. No one could say the same today.

In its annual report for FY2023 ended Mar 31, the company reported a net debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. This was up from 0.17 in FY2022, 0.06 in FY2021, 0.1 in FY2020 and a net cash position in FY2019.

The money has been going into all kinds of bite-sized acquisitions that have allowed Metro to stretch its balance sheet while spreading its wings.