Ahold Delhaize sales growth increased to 2.1%, with strong synergy delivery resulting in margin expansion
(Thomson Reuters ONE) -
* Net sales increased by 7.4% to ?15.1 billion (up 10.9% at constant exchange
rates)
* Net income increased by 54.0% to ?362 million (up 59.5% at constant exchange
rates)
* Pro forma net sales decreased by 1.1% to ?15.1 billion (up 2.1% at constant
exchange rates)
* Strong sales performance in the U.S., gaining market share across our brands
* Online businesses growing total net consumer sales by more than 20%
* Pro forma underlying operating margin increased to 3.9%, up 40 basis points
compared to Q3 2016
* Strong free cash flow of ?426 million, up ?340 million, with guidance of
?1.6 billion for FY 2017 reiterated
* Free cash flow for FY 2018 expected to increase, including capital
expenditure to step up to ?1.9 billion
* New ?2 billion share buy back program for 2018, following completion of the
?1 billion program in 2017
Zaandam, the Netherlands, November 8, 2017 - Ahold Delhaize, a leader in
supermarkets and eCommerce with market-leading local brands in 11 countries,
continued to show strong performance during the third quarter of 2017 with
increasing sales growth and improved margins.
Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said: "We reported a strong financial
performance again this quarter as margins increased significantly, driven by
synergies while savings from our "save for our customers" programs are
continuously being reinvested in the business. We continue to successfully
implement our Better Together strategy and expect cumulative net synergies for
the full year of 2017 to increase from ?220 million to ?250 million.
In the United States, inflation returned at low levels, and sales performance
further improved. We gained market share across our brands in a competitive
landscape with new entrants. Food Lion continued to report strong volume growth,
supported by the rollout of its "Easy, Fresh & Affordable" strategy, whereas
Stop & Shop New England benefited from a strong summer holiday season.
In Europe, our Dutch business continued to show good momentum with solid
comparable sales growth and strong margins, driven by synergies and other cost
savings. Albert Heijn further improved the quality of hundreds of own-brand
products and was recognized for having the most attractive promotions, providing
great value for customers. New products and services were introduced, such as a
subscription option at ah.nl for home delivery, offering free of charge delivery
at a fixed fee.
As part of our omni-channel strategy, we continue to enhance the leading
position of our online businesses both in the U.S. and Europe, which in total
grew more than 20% this quarter. We continue to invest in online warehouse
capacity and are on track to realize almost ?3 billion in online consumer sales
this year and nearly ?5 billion by 2020.
We are also investing to further improve our portfolios of own-brand products,
providing healthy and convenient choices for customers and leveraging expertise
from both sides of the Atlantic. This includes combining our Ahold USA and
Delhaize America natural and organic own-brands with a total annual sales of $1
billion, into our Nature's Promise brand that we will introduce across our other
businesses.
Moreover, we are building our digital capabilities and expertise and continue to
invest to offer customers a personalized experience, both in our stores and
online, using data analytics to develop digital loyalty programs and unique
offers and promotions, benefiting from expertise and skills across our
businesses. With the introduction of "My Hannaford Rewards" program, all our
U.S. brands have now implemented a digital customer loyalty program.
We reiterate our guidance of ?1.6 billion free cash flow for the full year
2017. Looking forward to 2018, we will maintain our balanced approach between
managing our debt, funding growth and returning excess liquidity to our
shareholders. For 2018, we expect free cash flow to increase and we anticipate
capital expenditure to step up to ?1.9 billion, focused on improving our store
network, expanding our omni-channel offering and further developing our digital
capabilities. In addition, we announced today a new 12 month ?2 billion share
buy back program starting at the beginning of 2018, reflecting confidence in our
Better Together strategy.
171108_Q317_AholdDelhaize_analyst presentation:
http://hugin.info/130711/R/2147947/823897.pdf
171108_Q317_AholdDelhaize_press release:
http://hugin.info/130711/R/2147947/823896.pdf
This announcement is distributed by Nasdaq Corporate Solutions on behalf of Nasdaq Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.
Source: Ahold Delhaize via GlobeNewswire
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 08.11.2017 - 06:45 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 567126
Anzahl Zeichen: 5402
contact information:
Town:
Amsterdam
Kategorie:
Business News
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