FILE PHOTO: Striking workers gather outside a Stop & Shop store following a speech by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 18, 2019. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Ahold, the Dutch owner of supermarket chains in the United States and Europe, said on Monday a labor conflict at Stop&Shop in the U.S., now resolved, would hurt its underlying 2019 profit margins.
In a statement Ahold said the 11-day strike earlier this month would cause a one-time reduction in underlying operating profit of around $100 million as a result of lost sales and inventory.
“As a consequence, Ahold Delhaize now anticipates underlying operating margin for the group for 2019 to be slightly lower than 2018,” it said in a statement.
“Additionally, the percentage growth of underlying earnings per share in 2019 is revised from high single digits to low single digits.
It kept free cash flow estimates unchanged at 1.8 billion euros, due to growth at its other chains in the U.S. and Europe.
Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
