Shareholders of Royal Ahold, the international food provider, approved all proposed amendments to the company’s Articles of Association during an Extraordinary General Meeting of Stockholders held today. The par value of Ahold shares will now be expressed in Euro. The Corporate Executive Board was granted authority to set a registration date whereby voting at the Shareholders’ Meeting can now be carried out through proxy solicitation. It is anticipated that a larger share of capital placed can be captured through a more active contribution of shareholders at their Annual General Meeting. In addition, shareholders agreed with a proposal to make separate agenda items of approval of the Financial Statements and the granting of decharge. Upon the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Corporate Executive Board is now also authorized to decide to issue preferred financing shares for a period of five years up to a maximum of 25% of capital placed.
During ‘Any Other Business’, Ahold President Cees van der Hoeven told shareholders that the company is opening almost 300 new stores this year, including 50 supermarkets in the USA and 170 in Europe. The stores opening in Europe are not only supermarkets but also hypermarkets, in line with the multi-format Ahold strategy. Some 650 existing stores are also being modernized and enlarged this year. Acquisitions in 2000 will positively impact the store count by 3,600, bringing the total number of Ahold stores this year to over 8,000 in 24 countries. ‘Never before has Ahold, autonomously and through acquisitions, grown so strongly in such a short period,’ said Van der Hoeven. ‘The impact of this growth will make itself clearly felt in due course. The many store openings, the ongoing expansion and renovation program, and the addition of numerous excellent stores through acquisitions and joint ventures will have a substantial effect on the growth of sales and results in the years ahead.’
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Van der Hoeven projects a similar number of store openings, expansion and renovation in 2001, resulting in more selling space. ‘We plan to continue to grow substantially faster than the market in years to come,’ concluded Van der Hoeven.
