Ambitious and moving fast
- In 2004 Ahold’s President and CEO Anders Moberg tells the Annual Shareholders' Meeting: "Ahold is focused, ambitious and moving fast".
- Plans for corporate restructuring had been announced earlier in the year. This included closure of the U.S. retail corporate headquarters in Virginia combined with the integration of back-office functions of Ahold operating companies into a new business arena in the Boston area.
- In Europe, the services provided by the European Competence Center are aligned with the needs of the Ahold corporate center and the Netherlands market.
- Consolidation continued during the year, with the divestment of Ahold’s remaining 204 convenience stores in the U.S., the final Asian operations in Thailand and the sale of operations in South America, Poland and Spain. Ahold also announced its intention to divest its Benelux foodservice unit, Deli XL
Corporate governance
Issues from the previous year were brought to a close as agreement is reached with both the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Dutch Public Prosecutor.
The SEC's Complaint and Litigation Release stated that Ahold cooperated fully with the SEC in its investigation and has undertaken significant remedial actions in connection with the issues that were investigated.
The settlement completely resolves the SEC's investigation of Ahold and its various operating companies, including its U.S. Foodservice subsidiary.
At the beginning of the year Ahold launched its own corporate governance initiative. A new executive leadership team for American subsidiary U.S. Foodservice under CEO Lawrence Benjamin was announced in May. The company also announced the reorganization of U.S. Foodservice's field operations.