Retailer Ahold has announced that net sales through the first quarter of the year increased by 15.2 per cent, or 6.2 per cent at constant exchange rates, to hit €8.7bn (US$11.6bn).
In the group's home market of the Netherlands, Ahold reported a net sales increase of 12.3 per cent to €3bn (US$4bn) at its Albert Heijn operation, with identical sales up 4.7 per cent.
Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover stores in the US saw net sales up 3.6 per cent to US$5.3bn (€3.96bn), with identical store sales growth of 3.1 per cent at the former and 3.6 per cent at the latter.
Sales at Giant-Carlisle during the period ended 19 April 2009 also climbed, up 3.4 per cent to US$1.5bn (€1.1bn).
'In Europe and the US, our performance remained solid and we continued to focus on striking a balance between sales growth, market share and margin,' the group said in a statement. 'We remain well positioned to meet our customers needs and to respond to competition in the current turbulent economic market.'
The only downside to the group's first quarter results was a drop in sales at its Albert/Hypernova operations in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with net sales falling 3.9 per cent to €491m (US$657m).
