Ahold Delhaize 1Q Net Profit Rose Ahead of Market Expectations, Backs Guidance

By Joe Hoppe

Royal Ahold Delhaize NV on Wednesday reported a 2.7% rise in first-quarter net profit, beating forecasts, and backed its full-year guidance.

The Dutch grocer made a net profit for the quarter of 561 million euros ($614.9 million) compared with EUR546 million for the year-earlier period and a consensus of EUR542 million, taken from the company's website.

Net sales rose to EUR21.62 billion from EUR19.77 billion the prior year, a rise of 6.3% on a constant-exchange basis. This compares with a consensus of EUR21.51 billion.

The company primarily attributed its strong earnings performance to its U.S. operations, which partially offset increased energy costs in Europe and the hit from strikes in Belgium.

Like-for-like U.S. net sales excluding gas rose 6.2% while European sales climbed 6.1%, the company said.

Ahold reiterated its 2023 outlook, first disclosed in its 2022 results. It said then it expects an underlying operating margin of around 4% and roughly flat underlying earnings per share

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 10, 2023 02:17 ET (06:17 GMT)

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