Dutch grocery retailer Ahold has published its interim report for the third quarter of 2014, outlining an increase in overall group sales.
Sales for the three-month period came in at €7.5bnm an increase of 1.9 per cent, or growth of 1.5 per cent at constant exchange rates.
'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,' explained CEO Dick Boer.
'In the US, the rollout of our programme to improve quality, service and value for our customers is progressing well. By the end of this quarter, the programme was active in over half of our stores.
'In the Netherlands, Albert Heijn's sales performance improved, while the margin in the Netherlands was in line with the previous quarter, adjusted for increased investments in growth at bol.com,' he continued. 'In the Czech Republic, we are well underway with the integration of the SPAR business. We are pleased with the performance of the stores that have been converted to the Albert brand and expect to have all stores rebranded by the end of the first quarter next year.'
Underlying operating margin, excluding the SPAR acquisition, was stable when compared with the prior quarter (3.9 per cent), while third quarter net income stood at €178m, up 7.9 per cent or 8.5 per cent at constant exchange rates.
'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,' Boer added.
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