BMI Wary Of Ahold's Planned Belgium Entry

Dutch retail giant Ahold has announced it will expand into Belgium after publishing its first quarter results, in which it reported a slight increase in sales but a significant improvement in earnings for the first quarter of 2009. In the three months to the end of March Ahold's sales increased by 1% to EUR8.74bn, while net profits increased by 46% to EUR272mn. Operating profits were up by 3.3% while the remaining improvement in earnings can be traced to a recalculation of provisions taken in 2008. The decision to expand into Belgium comes at the same time as rival retailer Carrefour

To read the full article, please choose one of the following options: