Food Lion, Hannaford enjoy strong Q4 sales

ZANDAAM, The Netherlands — Ahold Delhaize’s Delhaize America supermarket division had a strong 2106 fourth quarter, with comparable-store growth rising by 2.2% year over year with both Food Lion and Hannaford growing volumes significantly.

“In October, Food Lion implemented its ‘Easy, Fresh & Affordable’ initiative in 142 stores in the Charlotte market, with positive initial customer response especially in Fresh. Shelf price deflation was 1.7%, broadly in line with the previous quarter,” Ahold Delhaize stated in a news release.

The company added Ahold USA had a strong holiday season, led by Stop & Shop New England. Comparable sales at Ahold USA were down 0.2% year over year, but the company explained this was due to benefits seen from competitive closures in the market during the 2015 Q4 period. Shelf price deflation was 1.2% at Ahold USA, broadly in line with projections.

Overall, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize had consolidated net sales in its 2016 Q4 of approximately $16 billion, an increase of 54.5% compared to the Q4 of 2015.