Ahold U.S. sales up, delists from NYSE

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands Ahold announced today that sales at its Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover stores during the second quarter were $3.9 billion, up 1.9% compared with the same period last year; identical sales were up 1.1% at Stop & Shop (0.6% excluding gasoline net sales) and down 1% at Giant-Landover. Operating income was $161 million, or 4.1% of net sales, down $62 million from the same period last year.

For the first half, net sales were $9 billion, up 1.8% compared with the same period last year; identical sales were up 0.7% at Stop & Shop (0.2% excluding gasoline net sales) and down 1.1% at Giant-Landover. Operating income was $389 million, or 4.3% of net sales, down $123 million from the same period last year.

For the second quarter, net sales at Giant-Carlisle were $1 billion, up 13.7% from the same period last year, due in part to the acquisition of the Clemens Markets stores in the fourth quarter of 2006; identical sales were up 2.7% (2.6% excluding gasoline net sales). Operating income increased by $7 million to $56 million or 5.6% of net sales. Similar to the second quarter last year, operating income was favorably impacted by seasonal holiday sales and low promotional spend.

For the first half, net sales were $2.3 billion, up 15% from the same period last year, due in part to the acquisition of the Clemens Markets stores in the fourth quarter of 2006; identical sales were up 3.7%.

Ahold also announced today its intention to delist its American Depositary Receipts from the New York Stock Exchange, deregister from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and terminate its reporting obligations under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company’s ADRs will continue to be traded on the over-the-counter market in the United States.

Ahold said it decided to delist because of its strategy to improve cost-effectiveness by reducing complexity without detracting from the integrity of its corporate governance and control processes, adding that the benefits of maintaining a U.S. registration and a NYSE listing have declined over time.