Ahold today published its summary financial report for the fourth quarter and full year 2008. CEO John Rishton said: “In 2008, we delivered solid performance with particularly strong results in the last quarter and achieved an underlying retail operating margin of 5% for the full year. We have achieved our annual targets for each of the last three years thanks to the hard work and dedication of our employees. I am pleased to announce that we propose to increase our annual dividend for 2008 by 12% to € 0.18 per common share.
“During 2008, we completed the Value Improvement Program, including the rebranding of Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover. This strengthened our relative price position and led to market share gains and improved financial results in the second half of the year. Meanwhile, Giant-Carlisle continued its strong performance, gaining significant market share. In Europe, Albert Heijn had another excellent year, including the conversion of 54 Schuitema stores to the Albert Heijn banner following the divestment of our stake in Schuitema. Albert/Hypernova was able to maintain its market position and break even in very competitive markets in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“Although the economic environment continues to deteriorate, we believe that the business is well prepared to respond to the effects of recession. We have a strong balance sheet and we have repositioned our businesses over recent years to give better value to our customers. We continue to improve our offer and reduce costs. As a business, we have the skills and capabilities to respond quickly and effectively to changes in consumer behavior. Despite the continued deterioration of the economic environment, in the first weeks of 2009 we have seen no significant changes in consumer behavior.
“We are confident that we have the right strategy, business model and customer offering. However we recognize that in the current conditions we may need to adjust the balance between sales, market share, profits and cash even more rapidly than we have in the past. Consequently, we will work to balance these elements in the near-term to ensure we are able to deliver our longer-term goals of sustainable 5% sales growth and 5% retail operating margin.
