Ahold Delhaize Racks Up Robust Q1 Sales Growth
For its first quarter of 2025, Ahold Delhaize reported net sales of €23.3 billion (US $26.5 billion), an increase of 5.0% at constant exchange rates and of 7.1% at actual exchange rates. According to the retail conglomerate, this net sales growth was driven by the acquisition of Romanian supermarket chain Profi; comparable-sales growth, excluding gasoline, of 3.3%; and store openings, partly offset by the closure of Stop & Shop stores and lower gasoline sales. Q1 Ahold Delhaize comps excluding gasoline were net positively affected by 0.4 percentage points, because of weather and calendar shifts, and adversely affected by 0.5 percentage points from the discontinuation of tobacco sales at its Dutch and Belgian supermarkets.
Also in Q1, Ahold Delhaize’s online sales grew 13.7% at constant exchange rates. The company said that this was because of double-digit growth in online grocery in both the U.S. and European regions and accelerating sales at Dutch e-grocer bol.
In the United States, net sales came to €13.9 billion (US $15.8 billion), a 1.8% increase at constant exchange rates and up 5.2% at actual exchange rates. U.S. comps excluding gasoline rose 3.1%, driven by continued growth in online and pharmacy sales, and benefiting from a net positive impact of about 0.5 percentage points due to calendar and weather. Net sales were negatively affected, however, by the Stop & Shop store closures and lower gasoline sales. Food Lion and Hannaford continued to lead the U.S. brands’ performance, delivering 50 and 15 consecutive quarters of positive sales growth, respectively.
Q1 online sales in the United States increased 17.9% in constant currency, spurred by double-digit online growth at most of the company’s U.S. brands, headed by solid growth at Food Lion.
Ahold Delhaize President and CEO Frans Muller said that the organization’s Q1 results have placed it “well on track to reach our goals and strategic ambitions for 2025. It has been a dynamic start to the year for customers in both regions, with increasing macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility. In the U.S., there have been spikes in the price of eggs and evolving conditions around tariffs. … Our Growing Together strategy, our scale and our experience in dealing with different economic cycles prepare us well to keep investing in our winning propositions, supporting our ambitions to increase brand strength and drive market share gains.”
Added Muller: “To this end, we continued with our planned price investments in the U.S. throughout Q1. Giant Food expanded its ‘Fresh Low Prices’ initiative, lowering prices on hundreds of products across its own-brand range. Stop & Shop maintained a steady cadence, rolling out value-enhancing campaigns and lowering prices at more than 40% of its stores.”
Further, according to Muller, the expansion of same-day delivery options, including a partnership with DoorDash, “was a major competitive advantage during the winter storms in early 2025, when our U.S. brands were well positioned to facilitate the rise in customer demand, contributing to record penetration levels.”
Following Q1, despite higher economic volatility and uncertainty, particularly due to tariff policies and fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, Ahold Delhaize has reiterated its 2025 outlook, which the company first revealed when it released its Q4 2024 results. Underlying operating margin is expected to be around 4%; underlying EPS is expected to grow by mid- to high-single digits, based on an average U.S. dollar/euro exchange rate for 2025 of 1.10; free cash flow is expected to be at least €2.2 billion (US $2.5 billion); and gross capital expenditures are planned at around €2.7 billion (US $3.1 billion).
The company also noted changes in the business that will affect its comparable performance for 2025 and that have been incorporated into its outlook: the Profi acquisition in January 2025, which is expected to add around €3 billion (US $3.4 billion) US $ in net sales; the closure of underperforming Stop & Shop stores in 2024, with an estimated net impact to 2025 reported net sales of between $550 million and $575 million; and the end of tobacco sales at Dutch retailer Albert Heijn on net sales at its franchised stores, as well as an approximately 1.0 percentage-point impact on reported and comp sales in Europe because of the cessation of tobacco sales at Delhaize and Albert Heijn stores in Belgium as of April 2025.
Zaandam, Netherlands-based Ahold Delhaize is one of the world’s largest food retail groups. The company’s family of local brands serves 63 million customers each week, both in stores and online, in the United States, Europe and Indonesia. Together, these brands employ more than 402,000 associates in 7,716 grocery and specialty stores. The Ahold Delhaize USA division is No. 11 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Retailers of the Century and among the 10 Most Sustainable Grocers of 2025.
