GIANT FOOD STORES, TOPS PACE AHOLD'S U.S. GAINS

ZAANDAM, Netherlands -- Ahold here reported increased sales and earnings for the first quarter ended April 24.

e sales rose 7.8% to $4.4 billion. Ahold's U.S. sales rose 5.5% to $2.1 billion.

Currency conversions were made at the rate of 1.93 Netherlands guilders to the U.S. dollar.

According to the company, Giant Food Stores, Carlisle, Pa., achieved considerably higher sales, while Bi-Lo, Mauldin, S.C., and Tops Supermarkets, Buffalo, N.Y., achieved sales growth in increasingly competitive markets.

Finast-Ohio, Maple Heights, Ohio, and Edwards Super Food Stores, Windsor Locks, Conn., achieved "slightly improved sales," the company noted.

Operating results in the United States rose 5% to $50.5 million, with Giant and Tops realizing higher results, the company said.

At Edwards and Finast, "the positive effects of changes in store format and cost-structure adjustments are gradually showing up in improved operating results," the company said.

"However, as a result of special price promotions, Bi-Lo's operating results lagged behind the extremely good results of the first quarter of 1993."

Claire Kent, a London-based securities analyst for Morgan Stanley, which is based in New York, said Bi-Lo's aggressive pricing policy resulted in U.S. operating margins remaining flat at 2.4%.

Overall, Kent said, Ahold's results were slightly lower than expected "due mainly to a weaker-than-expected operating profit in the Netherlands and the U.S. subsidiaries, which was partially offset by a better-than-expected result from Portugal and the Czech Republic."

1ST-QUARTER RESULTS

Qtr. Ended 4/24/94 4/25/93

Sales $4.4 billion $4.1 billion

Change 7.8%

Net Income $57.2 million $49.8 million

Change 14.7%

Inc/Share 49 cents 48 cents