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Net sales increased by 7.4% to €15.1 billion (up 10.9% at constant exchange rates)
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Net income increased by 54.0% to €362 million (up 59.5% at constant exchange rates)
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Pro forma net sales decreased by 1.1% to €15.1 billion (up 2.1% at constant exchange rates)
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Strong sales performance in the U.S., gaining market share across our brands
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Online businesses growing total net consumer sales by more than 20%
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Pro forma underlying operating margin increased to 3.9%, up 40 basis points compared to Q3 2016
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Strong free cash flow of €426 million, up €340 million, with guidance of €1.6 billion for FY 2017 reiterated
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Free cash flow for FY 2018 expected to increase, including capital expenditure to step up to €1.9 billion
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New €2 billion share buy back program for 2018, following completion of the €1 billion program in 2017
Zaandam, the Netherlands, November 8, 2017 - Ahold Delhaize, a leader in supermarkets and eCommerce with market-leading local brands in 11 countries, continued to show strong performance during the third quarter of 2017 with increasing sales growth and improved margins.
Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold Delhaize, said: "We reported a strong financial performance again this quarter as margins increased significantly, driven by synergies while savings from our "save for our customers" programs are continuously being reinvested in the business. We continue to successfully implement our Better Together strategy and expect cumulative net synergies for the full year of 2017 to increase from €220 million to €250 million.
In the United States, inflation returned at low levels, and sales performance further improved. We gained market share across our brands in a competitive landscape with new entrants. Food Lion continued to report strong volume growth, supported by the rollout of its "Easy, Fresh & Affordable" strategy, whereas Stop & Shop New England benefited from a strong summer holiday season.
In Europe, our Dutch business continued to show good momentum with solid comparable sales growth and strong margins, driven by synergies and other cost savings. Albert Heijn further improved the quality of hundreds of own-brand products and was recognized for having the most attractive promotions, providing great value for customers. New products and services were introduced, such as a subscription option at ah.nl for home delivery, offering free of charge delivery at a fixed fee.
As part of our omni-channel strategy, we continue to enhance the leading position of our online businesses both in the U.S. and Europe, which in total grew more than 20% this quarter. We continue to invest in online warehouse capacity and are on track to realize almost €3 billion in online consumer sales this year and nearly €5 billion by 2020.