Aug 27, 2004 11:30 AM, from staff and wire reports

Netherlands-based Royal Ahold reported that its ailing United States supermarkets unit contributed to a profit of just 32 million euros, or $38.7 million. Ahold’s second-quarter net sales lost 5% to 12.3 billion euros, year to year, compared with a 3 million euro gain in second-quarter 2003.

The company had been expected to earn around 80 million euros in the second quarter, but operating income at its US supermarket chains including Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover fell nearly $253 million from the same period a year ago.

Ahold’s US Foodservice wholesale division, involved in a $1.2 billion accounting scandal in 2003, reported its second-quarter operating income rose to $36 million, versus a loss of $18 million a year earlier.