Düsseldorf, May 16 - Metro AG, Germany's biggest retailer, has no plan to sell its restructuring Real hypermarket chain and has not yet entered concrete talks to divest its Galeria Kaufhof department stores.
Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes, who joined in November, assured shareholders at his first annual meeting that Metro planned to keep Real.
"We assume we will be able to achieve a turnaround there," he said, adding that Metro planned to drive the international business of Real.
Shares of Metro were up 3 percent at 51.56 euros at 1433 GMT, the third biggest gainers on the DAX index, which was up 1.2 percent.
Metro, with more than 2,200 wholesale stores, hypermarkets, electronics and department stores in over 30 countries, made about 60 percent of its 2007 sales of 64.3 billion euros ($99.52 billion) abroad.
He reiterated that Real's plan to achieve a margin on earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 3 percent would not be achieved before 2009.
"Real must regain lost market share ... We have not -- let me state this clearly -- carried out the reorganisation with sufficient force. That will change now."
Cordes said Metro also planned to divest Kaufhof but was under no time pressure and had not yet entered concrete talks.
He said Metro had had "internal discussions" about Kaufhof's future and would make a statement to investors in due time.
Cordes told shareholders: "We will work hard to expand our business activities in every country of the world, in both mature markets and emerging markets. Acquisition opportunities remain firmly in view."
Cordes has already sold its Extra supermarkets. He could sell property assets and has said he may even float Metro's Media Markt and Saturn electronics chain.
He said there could be consolidation in the mid- to long-term in the European electronics sector.
Metro reiterated it expects sales to grow 6 percent this year and EBIT to increase 6-8 percent. It plans to continue investing 2.2 billion euros a year into the group and to open 40 Cash & Carry stores, 15 Real outlets and 70 Media Markt and Saturn shops a year.
Some shareholders criticised Cordes for his dual role as chief executive of Metro and chief executive of German family conglomerate Haniel, which owns a 35 percent stake in Metro.
Haniel pooled its stake in Metro together with that of the Schmidt-Ruthenbeck family to gain majority control of Metro in August 2007. Less than a month later, previous Metro CEO Koerber was sacked in favour of Cordes and a new strategy. In November Franz Markus Haniel of Haniel was appointed chairman of Metro.
Cordes said there were no similarities between the businesses of Metro and Haniel, adding that he saw no conflict of interest.