BRUSSELS, BELGIUM--(Marketwired - May 8, 2013) -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Financial Summary --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Revenue growth of 2.1% at identical exchange rates (3.8% organic growth) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Comparable store sales growth of 1.9% in the U.S. and 2.4% in Belgium --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Group underlying operating margin of 3.9% --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Free cash flow of EUR255 million --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2013 Outlook --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Guidance of 2013 underlying operating profit of approximately EUR775 million at identical exchange rates --------------------------------------------------------------------------- CEO Transition --------------------------------------------------------------------------- » Delhaize Group announces that President and CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers intends to retire by year-end ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
» CEO Comments
Pierre-Olivier Beckers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Delhaize Group, commented: "We had a strong first quarter driven by positive revenue growth and profitability at Delhaize America and Delhaize Belgium, partly supported by favorable weather conditions. Food Lion repositioned stores continue to perform well, and in Belgium consumer patterns proved to be more robust than expected. Operations in Southeastern Europe were impacted by price investments in Greece and high inflation in other countries."
"For the remainder of 2013, we will continue to make significant investments in our strategic initiatives. Phase 4 of the Food Lion repositioning will be launched next week, bringing the total of repositioned Food Lion stores to 78%. At Hannaford we will increase our investment in price as we focus on delivering more value to our customers. In Belgium, we have identified further opportunities to improve our stores, assortment and service level while remaining price competitive. As a consequence of our continued focus on our strategic priorities, Delhaize Group expects an underlying operating profit of approximately EUR775 million for the full year 2013 at identical exchange rates."
"After nearly 15 years as CEO, the Board of Directors and I have decided that now is the appropriate time to look for my successor. In the meantime I remain fully committed to leading and supporting the company and its 158,000 associates and I remain convinced that we are on the right track as evidenced by our results over the last three quarters."
Presentation Q1 2013: http://hugin.info/133961/R/1700191/561138.pdf
Press release in pdf format: http://hugin.info/133961/R/1700191/561130.pdf
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Source: Delhaize Group via Thomson Reuters ONE
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