Strong online sales surge for Ahold Delhaize | Progresiv
New merger company Ahold Delhaize's third quarter results were just published and it shows a strong online sales growth, up 25 % compared to the year before. 
Ahold's turnover grew 64.2 % to 13.9 billion euro, while net profit grew 24.9 % to 236 million euro, thanks to the addition of Delhaize's results (compared to last year when it was only Ahold's turnover). The pro forma turnover, which is a comparison with Ahold and Delhaize's combined third quarter turnover in 2015, still grew 2.6 %. The most remarkable number was the online consumer turnover, which grew 25.1 % compared to the pro forma turnover from 2015.
“We are pleased to announce a solid performance in our first full set of quarterly results since completing our landmark merger in July", CEO Dick Boer said. "Despite challenging conditions in certain markets, Ahold Delhaize has delivered growth in sales."
The company still struggles with the lower prices in the United States, but increased volumes offset the price drops. Ahold USA's pro forma turnover grew 2 % to 5.21 billion euro, while Delhaize America grew 0.6 % to 3.89 billion euro.
Dutch turnover (only Ahold was present in this market prior to the merger) grew 4.3 % to 2.9 billion euro, but its online sale growth was extensively bigger, up 30 % thanks to decent performances from bol.com and ah.nl. Since the start of the year, bol.com has managed 1 billion euro in turnover, which is a record number for a Dutch web shop. However, that still has not made it profitable: Ahold Delhaize continues to invest heavily in the online store's expansion, with 60 million euro planned as an investment for this year - equal to the amount it invested last year.
Similar to Ahold in the Netherlands, Delhaize is mostly responsible for Belgian turnover, which increased 1.7 % to 1.21 billion euro. Mainly its franchise stores performed well, while its own stores' performance was rather weak. Bol.com also grew a lot here, mainly thanks to the advances for the Plaza platform.
In the rest of Europe, Ahold Delhaize generated a 1.34 billion euro turnover, basically an 8.4 % increase. Particularly in Greece and Romania, the concern did very well. (www.retaildetail.eu)
