In the Netherlands, retail group Ahold has unveiled a strong set of results for the second quarter of the year, despite battling against the ongoing economic difficulties in Europe.
The group saw sales of €7.7bn through the three-month period, representing growth of 3.9 per cent at constant exchange rates, attributed to a focus on investing in customer value.
Operating income stood at €326m, up 18.5 per cent year-on-year, while net income stood at €248m, an increase of 24.6 per cent.
'By investing in value for our customers, we were able to grow sales by 3.9 per cent at constant exchange rates and we gained market share in all our major markets in a challenging economic environment,' noted chief executive Dick Boer. 'Despite a weak performance at Albert Heijn, underlying operating margin for the Group was in line with last year.
'We saw ongoing high levels of promotional activity in both the United States and the Netherlands with retail price inflation coming down, particularly in the United States,' he continued. 'Our businesses in the United States achieved strong margins through stringent cost control. Margins in the Netherlands were negatively impacted by increased price investments and an unsuccessful promotional campaign. Our business in the Netherlands now includes bol.com, following the successful completion of the acquisition on 9 May.'
Looking at the remainder of the year, Boer said that the group remained cautious of rising food commodity costs, particularly in the US.
'We are confident that we are well on track to deliver on our strategy and we will continue to invest in growth,' he added. 'We are pleased with the conversion of 15 Genuardi's stores to Giant Food Stores in the United States. We also completed the transaction with Jumbo concerning 82 stores in the Netherlands and we will start to convert the first 14 to Albert Heijn.'
