Ahold underlying operating income of €355 million, up 8.0% at constant exchange rates
Delhaize Group underlying operating profit of €247 million, up 12.1% at constant exchange rates
Ahold Delhaize merger effective on July 24, 2016
Pro-forma historical quarterly segment data to be published on October 6
Ahold Delhaize combined Q3 results to be published on November 17
Capital Markets Day on December 7 in London
Zaandam, the Netherlands, August 25, 2016 - Ahold Delhaize today published Ahold's second-quarter and half-year report for the period ended July 17, 2016, and, as an appendix, Delhaize Group's summarized second-quarter and half-year report for the period ended June 30, 2016.

The company, a leader in supermarkets and e-commerce with 22 market-leading local brands in 11 countries, was formed from the merger of Ahold and Delhaize Group. The merger was effective on July 24, 2016, after the end of both companies' second-quarter reporting periods.

CEO comments

Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said: "We have started our new chapter as Ahold Delhaize with good momentum, with these two strong sets of pre-merger results. Building on our solid financial foundation, common values and great local brands, we are driving ahead with full energy to deliver even more for customers and communities, associates and shareholders. We look forward to continuing to shape Ahold Delhaize, with a strong commitment to delivering great food, value and innovations for customers across our 11 markets, both in stores and online."

Pro-forma adjustments

Starting from the third quarter of 2016, Ahold Delhaize will report its quarterly financial performance for five business segments: The Netherlands, Belgium, Central and Southeastern Europe and two reporting segments in the United States. To provide a comparable base, pro-forma historical quarterly segment information will be published on October 6, 2016. In this pro-forma information, we will exclude the financial impact of divestments, as well as merger transaction costs. We will include the impact of purchase price allocation, as well as other effects, including the effects of the alignment of corporate costs allocation and accounting policies.

As announced by Ahold and Delhaize Group on July 14, 2016, 86 stores will be divested in the United States, as part of the approval of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. Proceeds from these divestments are estimated to be $174 million, resulting in no significant divestment gain or loss. These 86 stores represented $1.4 billion of net sales and $88 million of underlying operating income in 2015. In addition, Ahold Delhaize expects to divest another 10 stores in the Richmond area.

In Belgium, Ahold Delhaize will divest 13 stores, as part of the approval by the Belgian Competition Authority, as announced on March 15, 2016. These 13 stores represented €94 million of net sales and €10 million of underlying operating income in 2015. In addition, Delhaize Belgium also announced the sale of pet specialist shop chain Tom&Co on June 27, 2016.


Outlook

We are confident that we will meet our synergy target of €500 million on an annual run-rate basis by mid-2019. In 2016, synergies are expected to positively impact operating income by €30 million in the second half of 2016.

We continue to expect €350 million in one-off costs related to the merger, of which €61 million has been booked by Ahold and Delhaize year-to-date 2016 and €80 million is expected for the second half of 2016. This excludes transaction costs, which we continue to expect to be within €140 million, of which €62 million has been booked by Ahold and Delhaize in 2015 and €15 million year-to-date in 2016, with the remainder expected for the second half of 2016.

Our free cash flow for 2016 is expected to be €1.3 billion, including expected capital expenditure of €1.8 billion, €0.2 billion of transaction, integration and Delhaize Belgium's Transformation Plan costs and estimated cash flows from divestments of €0.1 billion.

We plan to hold a Capital Markets Day on December 7 in London, where we will provide an update on our future strategy framework for Ahold Delhaize, share more details on integration and synergies, and give guidance on our capital structure going forward.

Notes to this report

This report includes separate results for the second quarter and half year of 2016 for both former Koninklijke Ahold N.V. ("Ahold") and former Delhaize Group SA/NV ("Delhaize") on a standalone basis. Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. ("Ahold Delhaize") will publish its first combined results as of the third quarter of 2016.

Ahold and Delhaize Group are reporting on a standalone basis for the second quarter and half year of 2016 because the July 24, 2016, effective merger date of Ahold and Delhaize fell after the July 17 end of Ahold's first half year of 2016 and after the June 30 end of Delhaize's first half year of 2016. Ahold's interim report is included on pages 3-24 of this document and Delhaize's summary report on pages 25-37. The members of the Ahold Delhaize Management Board who acted as members of the Ahold and Delhaize boards during these reporting periods are the ones responsible for the respective standalone half-year reports.

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