Shares in Belgium-based retailer Delhaize climbed more than 5% today (10 November) after the company booked improving results for the third quarter of the year.
Delhaize, which in August cut its full-year profit target after second-quarter earnings fell, booked a 2.7% rise in third-quarter net profit to EUR140m (US$193m). Operating profit was up 1.2% at EUR249m, while revenues grew 0.8% to EUR5.31bn.
Those numbers were reported on a constant-currency basis. The strengthening of the US dollar against the euro helped Delhaize’s figures when measured at actual exchange rates, given the company’s retail chains across the Atlantic.
Including the appreciation of the US dollar, net profit was up 10.2%, operating profit climbed 9.5% and revenues rose 8.6%.
However, Delhaize kept to the full-year profit target it set in August when it said its 2010 operating profit could rise 2% – or at worst fall 2%.
Moreover, the retailer’s comparable-store sales fell again in the third quarter, dipping 1.8%. However, president and CEO Pierre-Olivier Beckers said the result was “a marked improvement” on the second quarter when US comparable-store sales fell 3.6%.
Delhaize’s shares listed in Brussels were up 5.3% at EUR53.61 at 12:16 CET this afternoon.
Click here for the full Q3 statement from Delhaize.
