In the Netherlands, retail group Ahold has reported a drop in groupsales of 0.8 per cent to US$8.5bn for the second quarter (Q2) of theyear, with operating income also falling by US$57.3m to US$345.5m during theperiod. Net income stood at US$446.9m for Q2, boosted by the US$238.1mdivestment of Schuitema to CVC Capital Partners.

For the first half of the year, the group saw net sales decrease 1.1per cent to US$19.2bn, with operating income down US$23.5m to US$839.5m.

Ahold CEO John Rishton said: 'We continued to invest in price and gaveincreased focus to promotions, both of which helped drive sales and wincustomers but, as anticipated, impacted margins.'

In the US, the group's Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover operations saw net sales increase by 1.7 per cent to US$4bn compared with the same period of 2007, including the US$29m of sales in Tops prior to its divestment. Margins were impacted by price investments related to the roll out of the Value Improvement Programme, with improvents expected later in the year.

'In the United States, the Value Improvement Programme has now expanded beyond price repositioning to marketing and branding,' Mr Rishton noted. 'We unveiled new logos and a number of brand initiatives for Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover as a further step in Ahold's strategy to build powerful local consumer brands.'

Additionally, Giant Carlisle saw second quarter net sales jump 11.5 per cent to US$9.2bn compared with the previous year, with identical sales up 7 per cent.

'We are confident we will manage the balance between sales growth andmargin and deliver our underlying retail operating margin guidance for2008 of 4.8 per cent-5.3 per cent,' Mr Rishton added.

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