General Information
Ahold is a public limited liability company
registered in the Netherlands with listings
of shares or depositary shares on the Amsterdam
and New York stock exchanges.
This is Ahold's Annual Report for the financial year ended
December 31, 2006, prepared in accordance with Dutch
regulations. It also forms a substantial part of its 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,"
the "Group" and "Ahold" refer to Koninklijke Ahold N.V.
together with its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates
otherwise. The Company prepared its consolidated financial
statements included in this Annual Report in accordance
with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS")
as adopted by the European Union ("EU"). All standards
and all interpretations issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (the "IASB") and the International
Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee (the "IFRIC")
effective for 2006 have been adopted by the EU, except that
the EU carved out certain hedge accounting provisions of
IAS 39. Ahold does not utilize this carve out permitted by the
EU. Consequently, the accounting policies applied by Ahold
also comply fully with IFRS. In Note 35 to the Company's
consolidated financial statements Ahold has provided a
reconciliation to accounting principles generally accepted
in the United States ("US GAAP").
Separate financial statements for Ahold's joint ventures ICA
AB ("ICA") and Jerónimo Martins Retail ("JMR") have not
been included in this Annual Report. Separate financial
statements for ICA and JMR are required to be filed with the
SEC in accordance with Rule 3-09 of Regulation S-X. Ahold
intends to file any required separate financial statements as
an exhibit to the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F or
as an amendment to the 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.
Financial year reporting
Ahold's financial year consists of 52 or 53 weeks and ends
on the Sunday nearest to December 31 of each calendar
year. Financial year-end dates for the past five financial
years were December 31, 2006, January 1, 2006, January
2, 2005, December 28, 2003 and December 29, 2002.
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. Effective 2006, Ahold's subsidiaries
in Central Europe changed their reporting calendar from
a calendar year to Ahold's reporting calendar.
Currencies
Ahold is domiciled in the Netherlands and consequently
the Company has adopted the euro as its presentation
currency. As a significant portion of Ahold's business
is based in the United States, exchange rate fluctuations
between the euro ("EUR") and the U.S. dollar ("dollar"
or "USD") are among the factors that have influenced
year-to-year comparability of its consolidated results of
operations and financial position.
Use of non-GAAP financial measures
In certain instances, results of operations are presented
in local currencies, which management believes provides
a better insight into the operating performance of its foreign
subsidiaries. Certain other non-GAAP financial measures
that have not been prepared in accordance with IFRS or
US GAAP are used in this Annual Report. These non-GAAP
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 Ahold Annual Report 2006
