Ahold, Delhaize agree to sell 86 stores ahead of merger

Danish supermarkets and discount stores are in an intense battle for customers interested in buying organic food. The sale of organic food products in Danish supermarkets increased by 12 percent between 2014 and 2015, and now 8.4 percent of all goods sold in the Danish retail sector are organic. “I can confirm that the retail sector is fighting for organic food consumers,” Jeppe Dahl Jeppesen, the purchasing director at Dansk Supermarked Group, told Berlingske. (cphpost.dk) 

Royal Ahold NV and Delhaize Group agreed to sell 86 stores in the U.S. as the Dutch and Belgian grocers seek to win antitrust clearance for their merger this month. The European retailers are selling 4.1% of their combined U.S. stores, and the sites represent 3.2% of their revenue in that market, they said in a statement Thursday. Buyers include Weis Markets Inc., Publix Super Markets Inc., and Supervalu Inc. The divestments are subject to approval from the Federal Trade Commission, which has yet to rule on the merger. By selling to smaller local rivals, Ahold is limiting any negative impact, it has been said. By combining with Delhaize, Ahold will have more than 6,000 stores around the world and annual sales exceeding €54bn ($60bn), with about two-thirds coming from the U.S. (Bloomberg)

At a group level Casino saw total sales contract by 7.0% to €9.966 bn, with much of this fall driven by Latin American currencies’ depreciation against the Euro. Organic growth was up 3.8%, while same-store growth came in at 1.8%. In France total sales rose by 0.1% to €4.7 bn, with organic growth of 1.2% and same-store growth of 0.2%. In its Latin America Retail division, which includes the grocery stores of Colombia-based Exito and Brazil-based GPA, total sales fell by 11.1% to €3.5 bn, but organic growth and same-store growth of 11.8% and 7.1% were recorded. Please, click here to read more at igd.com. 

South African retailer Woolworths Holdings Ltd expects full-year profit to increase by 15 to 25 percent as sales for the 52 weeks to end June 2016 rose, the company said in a trading update on Thursday. (Reuters)

National neighbourhood convenience retailer McColl's has announced that it is to purchase 298 stores from the Co-operative Group at a price of £117m. The acquisition will provide a substantial scale boost for the McColl's convenience store estate, pushing its numbers passed 1,200, within a wider portfolio of over 1,300 stores. McColl offers a broad range of products, including grocery, fresh and chilled food. (igd.com)

Tesco's supermarket business in India notched its first sales growth during year to March helped by store expansion and strong same store sales. Trent Hypermarket (THPL) —the equally owned joint venture between the Tata Group and UK's Tesco — posted an 8% rise in sales during year to March 2016 to Rs 849 crore. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)

Employees of the Marinopoulos supermarket chain on Wednesday staged a protest outside the offices of the Labor Ministry in Athens, demanding job security, following the decision by the chain to file for bankruptcy. (ekathimerini.com)