Delhaize Group said late Thursday it plans to spend €900 million ($1.21 billion) opening new stores and remodelling existing outlets, despite a tough retail environment which saw its same-store sales decline 0.8% in the fourth quarter.
The Belgian supermarket operator, which gets over two-thirds of its revenue from its U.S. Food Lion, Hannaford and Sweet Bay chains, said sales from stores open longer than a year fell 0.8%, although that was an improvement from a 1.8% fall the previous quarter. It said its Hannaford operations, which operate in the northeast of the U.S., had an "outstanding" quarter and that it didn't pass on food inflation to its customers.
Spokesman Steven Vandenbroeke said Hannaford—which competes with Koninklijke Ahold NV's Stop&Shop, Supervalu Inc.'s Shaw's and Wal-Mart Stores—gained market share, declining to specify from which competitor.
Earlier Thursday, Dutch peer Ahold reported a 0.9% rise in U.S. same-store sales, outperforming peers such as rival Supervalu, which last week cut its full-year forecast as it reported a 4.9% decline in same-store sales due to a continued challenging economic environment and heightened competitive activity in the three months ended Dec. 4.
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