Ahold USA's third-quarter net sales up 0.4% to $5.6 billion

ZAANDAM, the Netherlands — Ahold on Thursday recorded 7.5 billion euros ($9.3 billion) in third-quarter revenue, representing a 1.9% lift in sales. 

 

“This quarter we reported improved sales trends in the United States and the Netherlands while our margin was stable versus the prior quarter, excluding the impact of the SPAR acquisition," said Dick Boer, Ahold CEO. "In the United States, the rollout of our program to improve quality, service and value for our customers is progressing well. By the end of this quarter, the program was active in over half of our stores," he said. "We expect that ongoing investments in our customer proposition and further development of our formats and assortment will continue to result in improving sales trends."

 

In the United States, third-quarter net sales of $5.6 billion were 0.4% higher than last year at constant exchange rates. Identical sales growth excluding gas was 1.2%.

 

Ahold USA's market share was higher than last year, driven by the New England division, while market share at Giant Landover remained under pressure.

 

Towards the end of the quarter, Ahold accelerated the rollout of the program to improve its customer proposition, implementing it in all 168 stores in its Giant Landover division. "We launched this program to a total of 181 stores across Ahold USA this quarter, bringing the overall total to 501 stores," Boer said. "An important part of the program is to improve our Fresh offering, as well as improving the value of key items in dry groceries. The continued focus on our own-brand assortment resulted in an increased penetration of 60 basis points to 37.8%."