Supermarket group Ahold booked net profit of €262m in the final quarter of 2007, a 9% increase on the year-earlier period.

Ahold also announced a dividend of €0.16 per share – its first payout to shareholders since the 2002 US accounting scandal involving the company.
Ahold, which earns half of its sales in the US, reporte full-year net income of €2.9bn.