It has been a positive start to the year for Delhaize, with the retailer reporting on year-on-year operating profit growth of 1.7 per cent to €241m (US$315.5m) at constant exchange rates, and an increased share in group profit of 6.5 per cent to €130m (US$170.2m).

Revenue for the first quarter increased at identical rates, up 1.7 per cent to just under €5bn (US$8.5bn), boosted by comparable store sales growth in Belgium of 4.3 per cent and a revenue jump of 5.2 per cent for the same market to €1.1bn (US$1.4bn).

At the group's US operations, however, revenues dropped 0.4 per cent to US$4.7bn (€3.4bn), impacted by a negative comparable store sales evolution of 1.8 per cent. Operating profit fell 6.9 per cent in local currency, while operating margin slipped to 5.3 per cent from 5.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.

Delhaize's Alfa-Beta Vassilopoulos operation in Greece saw impressive revenue growth of 9.2 per cent despite the uncertain economic environment in the country, driven by comparable store sales growth and new store openings.

Across the rest of the world, revenues climbed by 28.2 per cent in the first quarter, or 18.4 per cent at identical exchange rates, to €68m. The result was aided by an expanding store network, an improved sales trend in Romania and strong sales growth in Indonesia.

'We are pleased with our first quarter results. Our group continues to post revenue growth despite a tough comparison with last year's highly inflationary environment and significant price investments at Food Lion as planned since the beginning of the year,' said Pierre-Olivier Beckers, president and CEO of Delhaize Group. 'Our volume trends in the US continued to improve, whichis an early sign that our customers are reacting positively to our price reset. Delhaize Belgium's performance is outstanding and our continued price repositioning efforts, together with successful sales building initiatives have resulted in continued weekly market share gains for 15 months now.

'While we remain cautious for the rest of the year as a result of the continued challenging economic environment, our first quarter performance and our plans for the rest of the year lead us to confirm our 2010 guidance that will primarily be generated in the second half of the year,' Mr Beckers added.

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