Ahold has reported on its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2013, reflecting on a 'challenging' period.
The Dutch retailer said that fourth quarter sales had fallen 1.1 per cent at constant exchange rates to €7.5bn, while underlying operating income for the period also fell, down 7.5 per cent to €320m.
For the full year, however, sales actually climbed 2 per cent to €32.6bn – driven in particular by online sales growth of 16.9 per cent – although underlying operating income fell slightly, 0.5 per cent to €1.38bn.
'In the fourth quarter our sales remained broadly flat at constant exchange rates, adjusted for the impact of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and VAT from tobacco sales in the Netherlands in 2013, reflecting a low level of inflation and pressure on volumes,' announced CEO Dick Boer. 'Our underlying operating margin was somewhat under pressure, while our free cash flow remained strong at €0.5 billion.
'In a challenging environment customers remained focused on value and were cautious in their spending, particularly in the second half of the year,' he continued. 'For the year we grew sales by 2 per cent at constant exchange rates and slightly increased market share in all our major markets.'
Looking ahead, Boer said the group remained wary of market conditions for the rest of the year, adding the retailer what continue to focus on online expansion.
'While we expect economic conditions to gradually improve, we remain cautious in our outlook for the food retail sector in 2014. Our ongoing focus on expanding our online businesses is expected to continue to result in strong sales growth. We will continue to look for ways to simplify our business in order to reduce costs so that we can invest in our value proposition and offer customers a better shopping experience every day.'
