Food Lion 2010 Annual Report Download - page 7

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 7 of the 2010 Food Lion annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 162

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162

Delhaize Group - Annual Report 2010 3
while maintaining the local and customer specific go-to-market
strategies of each of our brands. The examples are many, like for
instance the development of an integrated supply chain network,
one common procurement organization or common support
services and processes for accounting and human resources. This
new structure will undoubtedly support the realization of regional
synergies.
In 2010, I also bookmarked the fact that we managed to refinance
an important part of our long-term debt at very attractive
conditions, and thus significantly lowered our financial charges.
Georges Jacobs – I want to highlight that 2010 was another
strong year for our activities in Belgium and Greece. Delhaize
Belgium continued its strong momentum of the last years and
gained significant market share again. Similarly, while the Greek
food retail market shrank in the second half of the year due to the
deep economic crisis, Alfa Beta stood strong and grew further,
thus conquering 18.4% of the market compared to 16.8% the year
before. 2010 will undoubtedly also be marked as a milestone as it
is the year in which we acquired all the minority shares of Alfa Beta
and de-listed the company from the Athens Stock Market.
Outstanding performances in Belgium and Greece.
How did Delhaize as a Group digest 2010?
Pierre-Olivier Beckers – We delivered a strong result even if it
didn’t reach the level we were aiming for at the beginning of the
year. From a geographical point of view, the difficult economic
environment in the Southeast of the U.S. continued to put pressure
on Food Lion and Sweetbay.
Georges Jacobs – In the U.S., the financial and economic crisis
lingered on, however with a clear difference between the Northeast
and Southeast. While in New England the economy recovered
gradually as the year progressed, the difficult environment in the
Southeast continues. The U.S. national average unemployment
hovers around 10%, in the Southeast and moving further down to
Florida, unemployment rates quickly exceed the 12% mark.
Pierre-Olivier Beckers – The impact on retailers is fairly easy to
guess. The financial crisis and rising unemployment have put
pressure on the levels of disposable income. Increasing savings
levels by definition translate into less spending. Consequently, in
the summer of 2010 we had to fine-tune our expectations for the
remainder of the year.
In the second half of the year we registered a visible improvement
in the Northeast of the U.S. Hannaford’s performance was best-
in-class and increased its market share in a very competitive
environment. Hannaford was also rewarded on several occasions
for initiatives taken locally. Nevertheless, in most of the Southeast
and thus for Food Lion and Sweetbay, business remained difficult.
Does this mean you will just wait till the storm blows over?
Georges Jacobs – Surely not! The New Game Plan is our engine
for the future development of the Group. The implementation of
the plan will give us the fuel for accelerated growth and enable us
to strengthen Food Lion that appeared vulnerable to the economic
crisis. So we didn’t sit back and wait by the fire for the weather to
get better.
Pierre-Olivier Beckers – One should never waste a good crisis. We
must keep thinking ahead and continue to strengthen our brands
in all our markets. Successful companies are those that consistently
cultivate and support their strong brands. And we are well aware
that this should be an on-going process.
That sounds like you have an action plan ready?
Pierre-Olivier Beckers – The work we have done in the past few
years around the development of new concepts and improvement
of the shopping experience is very important and crucial for the
future success of the Group. Our plans for 2011 include a lot of
projects that will do exactly that.
DELHAIZE GROUP
AT A GLANCE
OUR
STRATEGY OUR ACTIVITIES
IN 2010 CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE STATEMENT RISK
FACTORS FINANCIAL
STATEMENTS SHAREHOLDER
INFORMATION
> Financial Highlights > Profile > Interview with the Chairman and the CEO > Overview of Operating Companies > Our Vision and Values > Our New Game Plan
stores at the end
of 2010
2 800
million
investment plan
for 2011
900
“The New Game Plan is our engine
for the future development of the
Group.”
EUR