Delhaize Group announced first quarter earnings earlier this week and said the company’s performance in the U.S. was boosted in part by “lower losses at Bottom Dollar Food.” U.S. operating profit for Delhaize increased to $197 million for the quarter, a 14.1% increase compared to the same time period a year ago. Operating margins improved to 4.2% of sales as compared to 3.7% in the first quarter of last year.
The company is in “phase four” of its repositioning effort for Food Lion, and has begun a “fresh round of price investments” at Hannaford Bros.
As for Bottom Dollar, Delhaize has not opened a new store in the past nine months, but future openings are planned for the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh markets.