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Press release
Ahold Delhaize kicks off with good momentum; both Ahold and Delhaize Group report strong Q2 results:
Zaandam, the Netherlands - Ahold Delhaize today published Ahold's second-quarter and half-year report for the period ended July 17, 2016, and, as an appendix, Delhaize Group's summarized second-quarter and half-year report for the period ended June 30, 2016.
The company, a leader in supermarkets and e-commerce with 22 market-leading local brands in 11 countries, was formed from the merger of Ahold and Delhaize Group. The merger was effective on July 24, 2016, after the end of both companies' second-quarter reporting periods.
CEO comments
Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said: "We have started our new chapter as Ahold Delhaize with good momentum, with these two strong sets of pre-merger results. Building on our solid financial foundation, common values and great local brands, we are driving ahead with full energy to deliver even more for customers and communities, associates and shareholders. We look forward to continuing to shape Ahold Delhaize, with a strong commitment to delivering great food, value and innovations for customers across our 11 markets, both in stores and online."
Pro-forma adjustments
Starting from the third quarter of 2016, Ahold Delhaize will report its quarterly financial performance for five business segments: The Netherlands, Belgium, Central and Southeastern Europe and two reporting segments in the United States. To provide a comparable base, pro-forma historical quarterly segment information will be published on October 6, 2016. In this pro-forma information, we will exclude the financial impact of divestments, as well as merger transaction costs. We will include the impact of purchase price allocation, as well as other effects, including the effects of the alignment of corporate costs allocation and accounting policies.
As announced by Ahold and Delhaize Group on July 14, 2016, 86 stores will be divested in the United States, as part of the approval of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Proceeds from these divestments are estimated to be $174 million, resulting in no significant divestment gain or loss. These 86 stores represented $1.4 billion of net sales and $88 million of underlying operating income in 2015. In addition, Ahold Delhaize expects to divest another 10 stores in the Richmond area.
In Belgium, Ahold Delhaize will divest 13 stores, as part of the approval by the Belgian Competition Authority, as announced on March 15, 2016. These 13 stores represented €94 million of net sales and €10 million of underlying operating income in 2015. In addition, Delhaize Belgium also announced the sale of pet specialist shop chain Tom&Co on June 27, 2016.
Outlook
We are confident that we will meet our synergy target of €500 million on an annual run-rate basis by mid-2019. In 2016, synergies are expected to positively impact operating income by €30 million in the second half of 2016.
We continue to expect €350 million in one-off costs related to the merger, of which €61 million has been booked by Ahold and Delhaize year-to-date 2016 and €80 million is expected for the second half of 2016. This excludes transaction costs, which we continue to expect to be within €140 million, of which €62 million has been booked by Ahold and Delhaize in 2015 and €15 million year-to-date in 2016, with the remainder expected for the second half of 2016.
Our free cash flow for 2016 is expected to be €1.3 billion, including expected capital expenditure of €1.8 billion, €0.2 billion of transaction, integration and Delhaize Belgium's Transformation Plan costs and estimated cash flows from divestments of €0.1 billion.
We plan to hold a Capital Markets Day on December 7 in London, where we will provide an update on our future strategy framework for Ahold Delhaize, share more details on integration and synergies, and give guidance on our capital structure going forward.
Notes to this report
This report includes separate results for the second quarter and half year of 2016 for both former Koninklijke Ahold N.V. (“Ahold”) and former Delhaize Group SA/NV ("Delhaize") on a standalone basis. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. ("Ahold Delhaize") will publish its first combined results as of the third quarter of 2016.
Ahold and Delhaize Group are reporting on a standalone basis for the second quarter and half year of 2016 because the July 24, 2016, effective merger date of Ahold and Delhaize fell after the July 17 end of Ahold's first half year of 2016 and after the June 30 end of Delhaize's first half year of 2016. Ahold's interim report is included on pages 3-24 of this document and Delhaize's summary report on pages 25-37. The members of the Ahold Delhaize Management Board who acted as members of the Ahold and Delhaize boards during these reporting periods are the ones responsible for the respective standalone half-year reports.
Cautionary notice
This communication contains forward-looking statements, which do not refer to historical facts but refer to expectations based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those included in such statements. These statements or disclosures may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future trends, plans, events, results of operations or financial condition, or state other information relating to Ahold Delhaize, based on current beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally will be accompanied by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “plan,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “intend,” “may,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project” or other similar words, phrases or expressions.
This communication contains Ahold Delhaize forward-looking statements relating to, among others, synergy targets, one-off costs, the performance of the Ahold Delhaize business, capital expenditure, cash flow, transaction and integration costs and the Ahold Delhaize Capital Markets Day on December 7, 2016, on which more information is expected to be provided on Ahold Delhaize's future strategy framework, integration and synergies as well guidance on capital structure, strengthening customers' proposition, strong sales growth at bol.com, principal enterprise risks faced by Ahold Delhaize, Delhaize's integrated stores' sales growth and Ahold Delhaize's contingencies, commitments and guarantees.
Many of the risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Ahold’s control. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the risks that the new businesses will not be integrated successfully or promptly or that the combined company will not realize the expected benefits from the transaction, Ahold Delhaize's ability to successfully implement and complete its plans and strategies and to meet its targets, risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to attention being required in connection with the integration, the benefits from Ahold Delhaize’s plans and strategies being less than anticipated, the effect of the merger on Ahold Delhaize's ability to retain customers,retain and hire key personnel, attract employees who are integral to the success of the business and maintain relationships with suppliers, and on their operating results and businesses generally, litigation relating to the merger, the effect of general economic or political conditions, Ahold Delhaize’s business and IT continuity, collective bargaining, distinctiveness, competitive advantage and economic conditions; information security, legislative and regulatory environment and litigation risks and product safety, pension plan funding, strategic projects, sustainable retailing, insurance and unforeseen tax liabilities and other factors as discussed in Ahold's and Delhaize's public filings and other disclosures.
The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Investors and shareholders are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Ahold Delhaize does not assume any obligation to update any public information or forward-looking statement in this communication to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this communication, except as may be required by applicable laws.
Outside the Netherlands, Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V., being its registered name, presents itself under the name of "Royal Ahold Delhaize" or simply "Ahold Delhaize."
Frans Muller, President and Chief Executive Officer of Delhaize Group, commented: “We are pleased with the results we have published today. We grew revenues and underlying operating profit in each of our three operating segments while we also generated €258 million of operating free cash flow (excluding Transformation Plan and merger related costs) in this second quarter.”
“With 3.9% real growth during this quarter, Delhaize America continued to experience good sales momentum both at Food Lion and at Hannaford, while inflation remained negative. At Delhaize Belgium, our market share continued to recover following the disruptions related to the Transformation Plan. Nonetheless, our performance remains largely driven by our affiliated network as our integrated stores’ sales growth lags
expectations, in a competitive and price-driven market. Southeastern Europe’s growth was again robust, driven by Romania and Greece.”
“For the full year and excluding the impact of the merger with Ahold, we are confident to deliver approximately €400 million of free cash flow excluding cash outs related to the Transformation Plan and related to the merger. In addition, we expect underlying operating profit to be in line with current market expectations. Building on these second quarter results, we look forward to completing the merger with Ahold on July 23,
subject to clearance from the FTC, and to work together with our future colleagues at Ahold Delhaize to build an even stronger company.”