By Maarten van Tartwijk and Bart Koster
AMSTERDAM--Food retailer Koninklijke Ahold NV said Thursday the
chief executive of its flagship Albert Heijn supermarket chain in
the Netherlands would step down after a lackluster performance.
Sander van der Laan, an Ahold veteran who took the helm of the
Netherlands' largest supermarket chain in 2011, will leave the
company on Feb. 1. His resignation was "mutually agreed" after the
business lost market share and posted a series of sluggish
quarterly sales, said spokesman Tim van der Zanden.
Albert Heijn has struggled to keep up with increasing
competition from discounters and high-end food retailers. It has
pledged to revamp its stores and invest in online channels to drive
future sales growth.
"Albert Heijn had a good fourth quarter ... but hasn't performed
optimally in the past year and a half," Mr. van der Zanden said.
"The shopping experience of customers wasn't good and the brand
positioning wasn't right," he added.
Mr. van der Laan, who wasn't available for comment, will be
replaced by Wouter Kolk, who currently heads Albert Heijn's
specialty stores and new markets operations.
Ahold on Thursday disclosed that its operations in the
Netherlands, including Albert Heijn, reported 4.5% growth in net
sales in the fourth quarter to EUR2.84 billion ($3.45 billion),
beating analyst expectations. But the increase was driven by
aggressive promotional campaigns during the holiday season, which
will have a negative impact on profit margins.
"Retailing in a mature and difficult economic environment
remains a balancing act between volume and margin," said SNS
Securities, a Dutch brokerage.
Stronger sales in the Netherlands lifted Ahold's overall sales
to EUR8.06 billion, an 8% increase compared with the same period a
year earlier.
In the U.S., where the retailer generates about 60% of its
revenue, business was less robust, partly as a result of the weaker
euro against the dollar. Sales fell 0.5% to EUR5.98 billion at
constant exchange rates, and Ahold said it lost market share during
the fourth quarter.
The company will report annual earnings on Feb. 26.
Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com and
Bart Koster at bart.koster@wsj.com