Anders Moberg, new chief executive of Dutch retail giant Ahold, has told shareholders the company must scale back its global ambitions and focus on its food retail business and on rebuilding US Foodservice.
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Shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the appointment of Moberg as the company’s new CEO, succeeding Cees van der Hoeven who resigned in February amid revelations of an accounting scandal at the company’s US Foodservice unit.
Moberg said in his first speech to Ahold shareholders that it would take Ahold between 18 and 24 months to rebuild US Foodservice and restore its value. The company would then decide the role of the business within the future strategy of Ahold, Moberg said.
In order to restore US Foodservice, Ahold will manage it as a single business operating separately from food retail, and the unit will receive the full attention of Ahold’s executive board. The company also plans to establish an advisory board, which will include some external members, to support US Foodservice.
“We are in the process of installing a new management team whose assignment is to get the company on track. During this period, we foresee limited investment. The company has grown too fast through acquisitions with insufficient integration. We believe that the ingredients are all there. We will have to put them together,” Moberg said.
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By GlobalDataMoberg said Ahold must focus on food retailing in selected markets in the US and Europe, and the company’s divestment of non-strategic and non-core assets would continue.
“This means that we will focus on markets where we already have or can achieve a leading position within a reasonable time,” he added.
