Dear stockholder,
Message from the Corporate Executive Board
Our company has once again delivered an
excellent year with record sales and results in
almost all segments of our worldwide business.
Sales surged 27% to Euro 33.6 billionoperating
results increased by 39% to Euro 1.4 billion
and net earnings totaled Euro 752 million,
37% more than the previous year.
The strong overall performance resulted in an
earnings per share growth of 25%. Excluding
currency fluctuations, earnings per share rose
22%», exceeding our increased target.
We are pleased with these results and
want to thank our 30 million weekly cus
tomers, our management and associates,
and our shareholders for their support.
The strong numbers and positive outlook
indicate our company is in superb shape
and well positioned to meet its future
targets.
Before reviewing our operations, we
would like to share our mission and
strategy and outline how we plan to
become the best and most successful
food provider in the world. We want to
offer our customers a superior shopping
experience by earning our reputation for
market leadership in quality and innova
tion, day in, day out. We believe we can
do this by establishing a tight network of
best of breed food providers. The compa
nies we acquire or with whom we join
forces are brand names synonymous with
superior customer service, value for
money and broad product ranges. The
quality and innovative capacity of these
companies sets them apart from the
competition and gives them the status of
undisputed market leader. By operating
together instead of individually they
all contribute to Ahold's outstanding
performance demonstrating that the
total clearly exceeds the sum of the parts.
How did this strategy reflect on our glob
al operations last year?
In the United States, all five of our operat
ing companies worked closely together in
key areas of our business, improving their
competitive position through the use of
economies of scale and further increases
in synergy benefits. Stop Shop and
Giant-Landover in particular boosted
sales by generating outstanding
autonomous growth. Giant-Carlisle, BI-LO
and Tops also successfully improved cus
tomer satisfaction by opening new stores,
upgrading existing ones and implement
ing sound marketing and merchandising
programs. Organic growth far exceeded
the industry average and operating mar
gins once again improved significantly.
New external growth in adjacent trade
Royal Ahold Annual Report 1999
