Ahold Delhaize earnings boosted by strong U.S. performance, shares rise

By Dimitri Rhodes and Lucie Barbier

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Dutch supermarket group Ahold Delhaize AD.AS on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter underlying operating income that was above market expectations, citing a strong performance in the United States.

Shares in the group rose 9.2% in early morning trade, top of Amsterdam's blue chip index .AEX.

Broker KBC said the results were predominantly driven by a "very strong U.S. margin."

U.S. consumer sentiment increased to a six-month high in February, though anxiety over the labor market and the rising cost of living because of import-tariff-related inflation remained widespread.

"U.S. sentiment is not the most positive we have seen... but I think we did a better job than the trend shows," CEO Frans Muller said in an interview with Reuters.

Ahold generates more than half of its revenue in the United States. It posted a fourth-quarter underlying operating income of 611 million euros ($728.01 million) in the U.S., beating the 546 million euros expected by analysts polled by the company.

"While supermarket volumes in the region declined 2% in 2025, we outpaced the market and delivered positive volumes," the CEO added in a statement.

The group, which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion and Hannaford chains in the U.S. and the Albert Heijn and Delhaize chains in the Netherlands and Belgium, reported an underlying operating income of 994 million euros for the quarter, beating the 918 million euros expected by analysts polled by the company.

It also announced a proposed cash dividend of 1.24 euros for 2025.

Ahold said it sees a 2026 underlying operating margin of around 4%, down from a reported 4.2% in 2025, and expects free cash flow to drop to at least 2.3 billion euros in 2026, from 2.6 billion euros last year.

($1 = 0.8393 euros)