Dutch retailer Ahold has revealed it is planning to open its first store in neighbouring market Germany during the second half of 2012.
The company's chief executive Dick Boer confirmed the move during a conference call to discuss its second-quarter and first-half results for 2011.
Ahold is preparing to roll out its AH To Go convenience format, Boer told reporters, locating them mainly in busy areas such as railway stations and city centres.
'We're not going to open supermarkets, like we did in Belgium, because the market in Germany is totally different,' Boer said.
As it did in Belgium, the new stores will be in cities located close to the Dutch border, a move which will allow them to be supplied by Albert Heijn distribution hubs in the Netherlands, Boer added.
'We're looking at cities like Cologne and Düsseldorf,' he said.
Profits down
However, Ahold arguably has a more pressing concern to attend to in terms of its financial performance.
The retailer posted net profit of €199m for the first half of 2011, down on the €202m it made during the same period of last year.
Turnover for the first six months of 2011, meanwhile, fell 3.5 per cent year on year to €6.9bn, while operating income was also down at €275m, a fall attributed mainly to recent rises in raw material prices and 'unfavourable' exchange rates.
Ahold warned that shoppers were increasingly seeking out promotions and had shown signs of switching to cheaper private label brands in an attempt to head off rising food prices.
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