Ahold fourth quarter and full year 2014

Zaandam, the Netherlands - Ahold today published its summary report for the fourth quarter and full year 2014.

• Q4 sales of €8.1 billion, up 7.9% driven by currency and improved sales trends (up 2.6% at constant exchange rates)
• Underlying operating margin of 3.7%; excluding the impact of the SPAR acquisition, stable versus prior two quarters at 3.9%
• Simplicity program 2012-2014 achieved €865 million; new target for 2015 of €350 million
• Strong free cash flow in Q4 resulted in full-year free cash flow of €1,055 million
• Dividend increased by 2.1% to €0.48 per share
• New €500 million share buyback program over the next 12 months

CEO Dick Boer said: "In the fourth quarter, we reported a strong sales performance, reflecting a positive currency impact as well as improvements in underlying sales trends, both in the United States and in the Netherlands. Our underlying operating margin was stable versus the previous two quarters, adjusted for the SPAR acquisition. Free cash flow generation during the quarter was strong, with €613 million compared to €485 million last year.

"The actions we took this year across our businesses to improve our customer proposition and to provide better value to our customers resulted in an improving sales performance over the course of the year. Operating income of €1,250 million was slightly higher than last year. Underlying operating margin of 3.9% was impacted by investments in our customer proposition in the United States, strong sales growth from our online business in the Netherlands and our acquisition of the SPAR stores in the Czech Republic. We completed our 2012-2014 Simplicity program and achieved €865 million in cost and efficiency improvements, exceeding our target of €600 million.

"We continued to generate strong free cash flow, amounting to €1,055 million for the year. In May, we executed our €1 billion capital repayment and reverse stock split and by December we completed our €2 billion share buyback program. Today, we are announcing a new €500 million share buyback program over the next 12 months. Following our strong free cash flow, the Board has proposed a 2.1% increase in our dividend to €0.48, reflecting a payout of 51%."

Full Q4 / FY 2014 Report attached as PDF to this message.

Please follow this link to watch a video with Dick Boer, Ahold CEO.