Dutch retailer Ahold has announced its results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, with consolidated net sales coming in at €8.1bn, an improvement of 7.9 per cent year-on-year.
The group said that it's domestic sales performance in the Netherlands 'significantly improved', with net sales up 4.5 per cent in the quarter, driven by identical sales growth of 2.2 per cent and by further extending Albert Heijn's network in the Netherlands and Belgium.
'Sales in the quarter reflect a strong holiday performance from Albert Heijn stores and our online businesses Albert Heijn Online and bol.com,' the group stated. 'Consequently for the fourth quarter, market share at Albert Heijn increased compared to last year, while for the full year, market share improved slightly.'
In the Czech republic, the integration of Spar stores drove net sales growth up to 32.6 per cent, while in the US net sales fell 0.5 per cent on the same quarter of 2013.
For the full year 2014, consolidated net sales were €32.8bn, an increase of 0.5 per cent compared to 2013. At constant exchange rates net sales were up 0.8 per cent.
