Ahold expects up to €250 million loss of revenue
The supermarket group published quarterly figures and expects lower revenue and operating profit in the fourth quarter as a result of a cyber incident.
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Ahold Delhaize expects the cyber incident in October to reduce net revenue in the fourth quarter by €200 million to €250 million. The company also links it to an expected decline of €75 million to €100 million in underlying operating profit and IFRS operating profit.
The amounts are included in Ahold Delhaize’s quarterly publication of 4 November. This is an expectation for the fourth quarter, not a loss already booked for the full year. The company says the incident disrupted business operations; the precise technical circumstances are not elaborated on further in this publication.
Ahold Delhaize also reported an underlying operating margin of 4.1 per cent and IFRS operating profit of €976 million for the third quarter. Those figures relate to the quarter and cannot be directly compared with the estimated impact for the fourth quarter without taking the period and definition into account.
The loss of revenue does not automatically mean that the same amount of profit disappears. Revenue consists of sales proceeds; profit also depends on costs, margins, recovery expenditure and any savings. Ahold expects a lower amount for operating profit than for revenue, but the quarterly publication does not provide a full breakdown of all the consequences.
The company refers to a cyber incident that affected operations in October. Earlier public information from Ahold Delhaize stated that systems had been taken offline as a precaution and that the incident had been reported to the Dutch police. The new development is the financial quantification in the quarterly figures.
For shops, suppliers and customers, a prolonged disruption could affect orders, inventory management and digital services. For investors, the expected decline in operating profit in the fourth quarter is relevant. The figures do not yet indicate the eventual scale of the damage or how quickly the systems will be fully restored.
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Both sides of the figures
▲ Bright spots
- Ahold reported an underlying operating margin of 4.1 per cent in the third quarter, according to the quarterly publication.
- IFRS operating profit for the third quarter amounted to €976 million, according to Ahold Delhaize.
▼ Concerns
- The company expects net revenue to be €200 million to €250 million lower in the fourth quarter as a result of the cyber incident.
- Ahold also expects underlying operating profit and IFRS operating profit to be €75 million to €100 million lower.
Critical note
The revenue estimate is nominal and concerns the impact on a future quarter; it does not directly measure the loss for shareholders or households. The publication also distinguishes between revenue and operating profit, meaning the two ranges must not be added together.
Who notices what
- Businesses
- Suppliers and business partners may face disruptions to orders, systems and planning.
- Investors
- Investors receive a lower profit expectation for the fourth quarter, but the eventual damage remains uncertain.
- Households
- Customers may mainly notice digital or logistical disruptions; the source does not report a general price increase as a result.
Every point comes from the article’s sources and was included in the fact check.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The financial amounts and quarterly figures have been checked against Ahold Delhaize’s publication. The text distinguishes between revenue, operating profit, an expectation and a booked loss.
- confirmed Ahold expects net revenue in the fourth quarter to be €200 million to €250 million lower. — This is stated in Ahold Delhaize’s quarterly publication. source
- confirmed Ahold expects operating profit to be €75 million to €100 million lower. — The publication gives this range for underlying and IFRS operating profit. source
- confirmed The underlying operating margin in the third quarter was 4.1 per cent. — The company publication gives this margin. source
- confirmed IFRS operating profit amounted to €976 million. — This amount appears in the same publication. source
Editor's note
The impact on revenue and profit comes from the company publication. The precise cause, duration and eventual scale of the incident remain uncertain.Sources
- Ahold Delhaize reports resilient Q3 2026 results and updates 2026 guidance — Ahold Delhaize
- Retailer Ahold Delhaize reports cybersecurity incident to Dutch police — Reuters via Euronext