BRUSSELS, BELGIUM -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/11/12

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 Fourth Quarter 2011 Revenues (at identical exchange rates)
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 » Group revenue growth of 7.0% (+1.5% excluding Maxi)

 » Continued solid trends in the 200 Food Lion Phase One stores

 » Excellent revenue growth at Bottom Dollar Food in Philadelphia

 » Strong revenue increase in Southeastern Europe and Asia (+62.9%,
 +6.6% excluding Maxi)

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 Full Year 2011 Revenues (at identical exchange rates)
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 » Group revenue growth of 4.6% (+2.4% excluding Maxi)

 » Revenue growth in all our operating segments

 » Solid revenue growth in Southeastern Europe and Asia (+32.1%, +7.5%
 excluding Maxi)

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 Other Highlights
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 » Optimization of store network: closing 146 and converting 64
 underperforming stores in the U.S. and Southeastern Europe

 » Investment program of approximately EUR 800-850 million in 2012,
 including 200 to 230 store openings and approximately 200 store remodels

 » Acceleration of the roll out of the brand strategy work to another
 600 to 700 Food Lion stores by the end of 2012

» CEO Comments

Pierre-Olivier Beckers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Delhaize Group said: "While we grew our revenues for the full year, we are disappointed in the fourth quarter revenues in the U.S. and Belgium. Consumers continued to feel pressured in the fourth quarter due to the macro-economic environment and this led to a reduction in spending. We also encountered an increase in competitive activity. We are determined to further improve our price competitiveness in 2012, particularly in the U.S. and Belgium."

"After a thorough review of our store portfolio, we have decided to close or convert a number of stores in the U.S. and in Southeastern Europe during the first quarter of 2012. This decision is in line with our New Game Plan which is aimed at accelerating profitable growth. For a retailer, it is never an easy decision to close stores as we are fully aware of the impact on our associates, our customers and the communities we serve. Having said that, we feel these decisions are in keeping with our responsibility to our shareholders to deploy resources where they will achieve the highest return. We fully expect these actions to be value enhancing in 2012."

"We are consistently executing our New Game Plan strategy and continue to invest in the many initiatives that are part of it such as the successful brand strategy work at Food Lion, the expansion of Bottom Dollar Food in its newer markets and our growth plans for Southeastern Europe. Funding for these will continue to come largely from the EUR 500 million gross annual cost savings target that we expect to exceed by the end of 2012. We confirm our target to achieve 5 to 7% revenue growth annually by 2014 and the ambitious plans to open 450 new stores in our high growth operations over the next 3 years that we communicated during the recent analyst field trip."

Press release in pdf format: http://hugin.info/133961/R/1576963/491561.pdf

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Source: Delhaize Group via Thomson Reuters ONE

[HUG#1576963]

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