Clemens Stores Boost Giant Sales

AMSTERDAM — Ahold here said the addition of 13 Clemens Family Markets stores acquired last year helped drive a 16% sales gain at its Giant-Carlisle division in the first quarter, to $1.3 billion.

Comparable-store sales at the chain were up 6.3%, and identical-store sales, which do not include results from replacement stores, were up 3.9% for the quarter, excluding gasoline. Ahold did not break out sales for its Tops chain, which it is seeking to sell.

Sales at the Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover chain were up 1.8% for the quarter, to $5.1 billion, which included a 0.7% increase in comps at Stop & Shop and a comp decrease of 0.8% at Giant-Landover. Identical-store sales were down 0.1% at Stop & Shop, excluding gas, and down 1.1% at Giant-Landover.

Sales at U.S. Foodservice, the distribution division that Ahold has agreed to sell, saw first-quarter sales rise 4.4%, to $6.1 billion.

Ahold said its total sales for the first quarter were down 0.7%, to about $17.85 billion (U.S.), but were up 5.8% at constant currency exchange rates.

The company is scheduled to release its full earnings for the fiscal first quarter on June 7.