Ahold Delhaize N.V. (ADRND.PK, AHODF.PK), a Dutch retail and wholesale holding company, on Wednesday reported weak profit in its fourth quarter, despite growth in net sales and comparable sales. The company further lifted dividend, and introduced outlook for 2025 with projected growth in sales and earnings, in line with its Growing Together strategic ambitions.
In the fourth quarter, net income fell 15.6 percent to 380 million euros from last year's 451 million euros. Earnings per share were 0.41 euro, down 12.7 percent from 0.47 euro a year ago.
Underlying earnings per share were 0.69 euro, compared to 0.73 euro a year earlier. Underlying EBITDA fell 1.1 percent from last year to 1.84 billion euros.
Net sales for the quarter, however, grew 1 percent to 23.28 billion euros from prior year's 23.05 billion euros. Net sales edged up 0.6 percent at constant exchange rates.
Comparable sales excluding gasoline increased by 1.4 percent for Ahold Delhaize, up 1.4 percent in the U.S. and 1.2 percent in Europe.
Further, the company proposed a cash dividend of 1.17 euros per share for the full year 2024, which is a 6.4 percent increase compared to the previous year. If approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders, a final dividend of 0.67 euros per share will be paid on April 24.
Looking ahead, for fiscal 2025, Ahold Delhaize projects underlying earnings per share growth in the mid- to high-single digits, and underlying operating margin to be around 4 percent.
Margins will be supported by Save for Our Customers program, through which the firm expects to achieve over 1.25 billion euros in savings in 2025.
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