Supermarket group Ahold on Wednesday announced plans to cut spending by €350m over the coming three years.

All areas of the company will be looked at, including distribution and purchasing, the company said.
´This programme will focus on all aspects of our business, including store expenses, supply chain, and overhead across the group. Separately, we will deliver additional sourcing cost savings over the same period,´ CEO John Rishton said in a statement.
Ahold booked net profit of €238m in the third quarter of this year, a 22% increase on 2008. Analysts had forecast a decline. Operating profit was up 1.5% at €265, slightly below expectations. Sales rose 4.3% to € 6bn excluding currency effects.
But the group´s Albert Heijn Dutch supermarket chain performed more poorly than in 2008, with organic sales down 0.4%. Including the acquisition of a number of C1000 operations, sales rose 4.9%.