General information
INTRODUCTION
Koninklijke Ahold N.V. is a public limited liability company registered in the
Netherlands with listings of shares or depositary shares on the Amsterdam, New York
and Zurich stock exchanges.
FINANCIAL YEAR REPORTING
CURRENCIES
USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
This is Ahold's annual report for the financial year ended
January 1, 2006 in accordance with Dutch regulations.
It also forms a substantial part of our Form 20-F, which will
be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC"). Cross-references to the Form 20-F are set out
in the "Cross-reference to Form 20-F" section included in
this annual report.
In this annual report, "we," "us," "our," the "Company,"
and "Ahold" refer to Koninklijke Ahold N.V. together with
its consolidated subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise. We prepared our consolidated financial
statements included in this annual report in accordance
with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS")
as adopted by the European Union (the "EU") and have
provided a reconciliation to accounting principles generally
accepted in the U.S. ("US GAAP").
Separate financial statements for our joint ventures and
associates have not been included in this annual report.
These separate financial statements may be required to be
filed with the SEC in accordance with Rule 3-09 of
Regulation S-X. If such financial statements are required to
be filed we intend to file these separate financial statements
as an exhibit to our annual report on Form 20-F or as an
amendment to our annual report on Form 20-F once these
financial statements have been completed in a form that is
appropriate for such filing.
This annual report includes forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties that are discussed in more
detail in the "Forward-looking statements notice" section.
Our financial year consists of 52 or 53 weeks and ends on
the Sunday nearest to December 31 of each calendar year,
with each subsequent financial year beginning on the
following Monday. Our financial year-end dates for the past
five financial years were:
January 1, 2006,
January 2, 2005,
December 28, 2003,
December 29, 2002 and
December 30, 2001.
Each of these years included 52 weeks, except for 2004,
which had 53 weeks. For Ahold and those subsidiaries with
a 53-week financial year in 2004, the results of operations
for 2004 were affected by the inclusion of the additional
one-week period in 2004 compared to the other four
financial years.
Our subsidiaries in Central Europe and our treasury center
in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as our former subsidiaries
in Spain and South America, use a calendar year-end.
We are domiciled in the Netherlands, which is one of the
member states of the EU that has adopted the euro ("EUR")
as its currency. Accordingly, we have adopted the euro as
our reporting currency. As a significant portion of our
business is based in the U.S., exchange rate fluctuations
between the euro and the U.S. dollar ("dollar" or "USD")
are among the factors that have influenced year-to-year
comparability of our consolidated results of operations and
financial position.
In certain instances, we present our results of operations in
local currencies, which we believe provides a better insight
into the operating performance of our foreign subsidiaries.
We use certain other non-GAAP financial measures in this
annual report. These financial measures are not prepared
in accordance with IFRS or US GAAP. These non-GAAP
financial measures should not be viewed as alternatives to
the equivalent IFRS or US GAAP measures and should be
considered in addition to, but not as substitutes for, the
most directly comparable IFRS or US GAAP measures.
2
