- Ahold announced this morning that its most recent quarterly sales were off 11 percent, down to the equivalent of $19.9 billion (US), though the figures do not include joint ventures in Europe and South America. The figures are the first to be released by the company since it announced that it had overstated revenues by $500 million (US) back in February, a number that subsequently was revised to $880 million. Annual results for 2002 have not yet been filed, and may not be until this November, owing to ongoing audits.
- Target Corporation reported that first quarter net earnings increased 1.3 percent to $349 million, compared with $345 million in 2002. Total revenues in the first quarter increased 7.6 percent to $10.322 billion from $9.594 billion in 2002, mostly because of a 9.8 percent revenue increase at Target Stores.
