Supermarket group Ahold booked net profit of €853m in 2010, down 4.6% on the previous year, the company announced on Thursday.

Sales were up slightly 5.7% at €29.5bn.
The company also announced a €1bn share buy back and is increasing its dividend 26%.
‘Despite another challenging year for the food retail industry, we managed to successfully increase volumes and grow market share in each of our major markets, new CEO Dick Boer said in a statement.
‘Although there are signs of a gradual economic recovery, we expect consumers to remain focused on value and cautious in their spending in an inflationary environment..’
Boer restated the company’s target of net sales growth of 5% percent growth, mainly from existing operations.