Ahold Profit Rises In Spite of Weak Economic Environment

Dutch supermarket giant Ahold /quotes/comstock/23r!aah reported on Tuesday that net sales for the second quarter rose 11.5% to 6.4 billion euros ($9.18 billion) from 5.77 billion euros in the same period a year ago. A Reuters poll of 13 analysts was expecting sales of 6.56 billion euros , MarketWatch reports.

Photo: Ahold Profit Rises In Spite of Weak Economic Environment

Ahold Profit Rises In Spite of Weak Economic Environment

Meanwhile, dutch supermarket group Ahold said on Tuesday its second quarter sales rose 11.5 percent, lagging forecasts, even as it continued to benefit from consumers opting to buy groceries instead of eating out in a weak economic environment.

The Amsterdam-based food group, which operates U.S. Stop & Shop and Giant food sellers and the Albert Heijn franchise in the Netherlands, said it saw less inflation in the second quarter and that it focused more on pricing and promotions , Reuters reports.

However, the company reported consolidated net sales of EUR 6.430 billion for the Ahold Group, up from EUR 5.769 billion in the previous year. At Ahold USA, quarterly sales rose to EUR 3.808 billion from EUR 3.281 billion, whereas at Ahold Europe, sales rose to EUR 2.622 billion from EUR 2.488 billion.
In the U.S., net sales at Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover rose 2.8% to $4.12 billion. At Giant-Carlisle, net sales decreased 0.4% to $1.113 billion, impacted significantly by lower gasoline prices , RTT News reports.