Retailer Metro drops Kaufhof plans as sales drop German retail giant Metro said Tuesday it had scrapped plans to sell its Kaufhof department stores for the moment, as it announced a drop in sales amid "disappointing" Christmas trade. Group sales dropped 0.8 percent in 2011 to 66.7 billion euros ($85.1 billion) with strong growth in Asia outweighed by a weak performance in Europe, which Metro blamed on the sovereign debt crisis. "The past year was strongly impaired by extraordinary developments," said Olaf Koch, Metro's chief executive. "In particular the sovereign debt crisis, high unemployment rates and austerity programmes in many European countries have resulted in a buying restraint among customers," he added. Metro's results were hit heavily by a poor final quarter, with sales down 1.3 percent on the corresponding period the year before. "Despite a good finish, Christmas business was disappointing overall," said Koch. The firm also announced it was ditching plans to offload its struggling Kaufhof department store business, which employs 20,000 people in 139 countries, primarily in Germany. "The present situation on the capital markets does not offer suitable conditions for such an important transaction," the CEO said. In November, Metro had said it was in talks with several potential buyers, including a real estate group part-owned by a Greek shipping billionaire. Other potential investors included Austrian real estate group Signa Holding, majority-owned and run by Austrian property magnate Rene Benko, and German investor Nicolas Berggruen, who last year bought Kaufhof's rival Karstadt. Spain's El Corte Ingles also expressed interest earlier this year.