Highlights
€25«7 billion
€1
.2 billion
<t www.ahold.com/reports2008
In 2008, we made good progress with our strategy
for sustainable profitable growth. Highlights include:
Ahold
Ahold USA
Ahold Europe
net sales
Net sales
€m €m
operating income
Retail operating income
Group at a glance
AHOLD ANNUAL REPORT 2008 2
Net sales of EUR 25.7 billion, an increase of 6.9 percent at constant
exchange rates;
Operating income of EUR 1.2 billion, up 12.2 percent or EUR 130 million
from 2007;
Retail operating margin was 5.0 percent; underlying retail operating margin
was also 5.0 percent;
We repaid EUR 1.1 billion of debt, reduced costs, and proposed a dividend
for 2008 of EUR 0.18, up 12.5 percent compared to last year's dividend;
We published our carbon footprint for the first time, along with goals for each
component of our corporate responsibility strategy.
Stop Shop/Giant-Landover completed its Value Improvement Program (VIP)
and rebranded its stores;
In the second half of the year, Giant-Landover delivered two quarters of
positive identical sales growth, the first time it has had positive identical
sales since 2002;
Giant-Carlisle continued its strong track record of continuous growth;
Carl Schlicker moved from Giant-Carlisle to become President and CEO
of Stop Shop/Giant-Landover;
Sander van der Laan moved from Albert Heijn to become President and
CEO of Giant-Carlisle.
Ahold divested its 73.2 percent stake in Schuitema;
Albert Heijn opened or remodeled 95 stores;
Etos opened its 500th store and was named "Best drugstore in the
Netherlands";
Gall Gall won the Dutch retail prize for food specialty stores of the year;
Albert/Hypernova made further progress with the rebranding of its stores
under the name Albert;
Albert was voted "Supermarket of the Year" in the Czech Republic
for the fourth year in a row.
2008 2007
1
2008 2007
Stop Shop/
Giant-Landover
11,681
45.4
12,192
49.0
Giant-Carlisle
3,238
12.6
3,145
12.6
Albert Heijn
9,029
35.1
7,998
32.1
Albert/Hypernova
1,774
6.9
1,558
6.3
2008 2007
2008 2007
€m
€m
Stop Shop/
Giant-Landover
485
37.5
486
40.0
Giant-Carlisle
160
12.4
156
12.8
Albert Heijn
648
50.0
573
47.2
Albert/Hypernova
1
0.1
0
0.0
