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Ahold Delhaize posts soaring first quarter profits

Newly-formed Dutch-Belgian retail giant Ahold Delhaize said Wednesday first-quarter profits had soared, 10 months after the two companies merged.

Net profits were up 72.8 percent in the first three months of 2017 to 356 million euros ($388 million) compared with the same period last year.

The group had “a resilient first-quarter performance with an increase in margins… despite the ongoing deflationary environment in the United States,” chief executive Dick Boer said in a statement.

Combined sales increased by 65.1 percent to 15.9 billion euros and were expected to rise in the second quarter.

“Ten months after the merger of Ahold and Delhaize, we are fully on track with the integration,” added Boer.

Ahold and Delhaize finalised their merger in July after being given the green light by US regulatory authorities.

Between them, the firms have 6,500 stores in Europe and the United States, including such chains as Giant and Food Lion, and employ 370,000 people.

Analysts say the merger created the fifth-largest grocery chain in the fiercely-contested US market and the fourth-largest in Europe.

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