(Add results, stock price)
AMSTERDAM, Aug 10 (Reuters) – Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize published quarterly results above market expectations on Wednesday, thanks to a strong performance in the United States, and again raised its annual forecast,
The group, which manages the Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion and Hannaford chains on the East Coast of the United States, has also announced the postponement of its plan to IPO bol.com, its online store of products non-food, due to unfavorable market conditions.
The stock rose almost 7% on the announcement of the results.
Ahold Delhaize’s second-quarter recurring operating profit was 880 million euros, against a consensus of 815 million euros calculated by the company from 16 analysts.
Turnover increased by 15% over the period, to 21.4 billion euros, in line with expectations.
The company has upgraded its earnings per share forecast for the full year, which it now expects to be up around 5% (“mid-single-digit”) compared to 2021. May, it had already raised its forecast, anticipating a stable profit instead of a slightly lower profit.
Ahold Delhaize had planned to float its subsidiary bol.com on the stock exchange in the second half of the year, but decided to put the plan on hold and re-examine it when market conditions were “more favourable”.
Bol.com’s online net sales fell 2.1% in the second quarter, according to Ahold Delhaize, after jumping 24.2% in the same quarter of 2021 amid booming e-commerce, boosted by travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Report Anthony Deutsch; French version Valentine Baldassari, edited by Kate Entringer and Jean-Stéphane Brosse)