1126 GMT - Ahold Delhaize's fourth quarter was bolstered by its performance in Europe, Bank of America analysts say in a note. The Dutch grocer reported strong sales amid solid volumes across all U.S. banners, a trend that continued into early 2025, providing the first fruits of investment efforts, they say. However, U.S. operating profit margins came under pressure due to pricing, wage increases and e-commerce growth, they say. Overall, the company delivered better-than-expected underlying operating profit, lifted by an improvement in the European margins of 70 basis points to 4.4%, the analysts add. This was ahead of consensus and more than enough to offset margin decline in the U.S., they say. Shares are down 0.6%, but have risen more than 25% over the last 52 weeks. (michael.susin@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 18, 2025 06:26 ET (11:26 GMT)
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