AMSTERDAM — Volumes were flat but inflation — along with an assist from Hurricane Irene — led to a "robust" third quarter for Ahold's U.S. stores, officials said Thursday.
Sales at Ahold’s U.S. stores — Stop & Shop, Giant-Carlisle and Giant-Landover — improved by 8.5% to $5.8 billion, with identical-store sales excluding gas rising by 4.5%. The sales results were well ahead of analyst expectations of 2% ID growth.
U.S. operating income was $237 million, up 18.7% from the same period a year ago, and operating margin in the U.S. improved to 4.1% of sales from 3.7% last year.
"I’d say it was a robust quarter for Ahold," Dick Boer, chief executive officer of Ahold, said in a conference call discussing results.
The sales improvement included an estimated 1% boost in sales resulting from customers shopping ahead of and re-stocking behind Hurricane Irene, which hit the Northeast in late August.
"I compliment our people in the U.S., our staff, because our stores were very well prepared for the hurricane," Boer said. "The number of stores that had to be closed was very limited, and we could serve our customers in the best way during this devastating period."
