Restructuring program cuts Delhaize profit
Quarterly loss of 55 million euro
Delhaize had already revealed its most essential results at the end of January: company turnover grew 3.7 % to 21.4 billion euro, but Belgian turnover dropped 3 % to 4.9 billion euro. The fourth quarter was quite devastating for Delhaize Belgium, with a 6.9 % turnover loss to 1.3 billion euro because of repeated strikes (shutting down stores for several days) and lower prices. The chain's Belgian market share dropped 77 points to 24.7 %.
The full-year results show that the company had a 55 million euro net loss in its fourth quarter as Delhaize set aside 137 million euro, to be used for early retirement plans and voluntary departures of some 1,800 employees. In the end, the group had a full-year net profit of 89 million euro, half of 2013's numbers.
For its current fiscal year, the group will focus on two specific areas: Delhaize will expand its "Easy, Fresh & Affordable" strategy in the United States to another 160 Food Lion stores and in Belgium, it will implement its highly-debated "transformation plan". The Belgians also seek additional growth at Hannaford and in South Eastern Europe, without losing sight of "the operational efficiency and the continued investment discipline".
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