Ahold has published its interim report for the third quarter of 2011, and has revealed that it turned in a strong performance across all of its business sectors in Europe and the US.
Overall group operating income came in at €300m, up 5.3 per cent on the same period of 2010, while net income climbed to €257m from €223m last year.
Group sales rose by 2.5 per cent (6.9 per cent at constant exchange rates) to hit €6.9bn, with growth in the US, the Netherlands and other European markets.
'We delivered another quarter of robust performance and gained market share in all our major markets,' said Ahold CEO Dick Boer. 'Customer remain cautious in their spending and focus on value in an inflationary environment. We continue to adapt to the challenging market conditions, balancing sales and margins.'
In the US, net sales came to US$5.8bn, up 8.5 per cent year-on-year, while identical sales rose 6.8 per cent and operating income came in at US$237m.
Dutch sales grew 4.5 per cent to €2.3bn, with the country bringing in an operating income of €501m, which represented a fall of €28m.
In the group's other European markets, encompassing the Czech Republic and Slovakia, sales increased 5.4 per cent to €392m, while operating income jumped to €3m from €2m last year.
