INVESTMENT THESIS
Delhaize Group is a food retailing company with about 3,400 stores in the U.S., Belgium, southeastern Europe, and Asia. The company has an established presence in its markets, and we believe it will remain a viable competitor in the grocery channel. However, customer switching costs are virtually nonexistent in the grocery industry, making it difficult for most operators to avoid competing heavily on price, and we think Delhaize lacks the scale commanded by larger firms. As a result, we do not believe Delhaize’s competitive position is strong enough to warrant an economic moat.
Delhaize operates more than 1,300 stores under various banners located along the East Coast of the United States, including Food Lion, Bottom Dollar Food, and Hannaford stores. The company has an established store network in these markets, but increasing competition remains a threat. Rivals such as Wal-Mart and Costco often accept low or negative margins on food items to drive purchases of higher-margin nonfood items, making it difficult for traditional grocers to compete on price while maintaining historic margins. To confront these challenges, Delhaize has invested heavily in price and product assortment at its Food Lion chain, helping support the top line at the expense of margins (segment gross margin decreased from 27.9% in 2009 to 25.9% in 2013).
Delhaize operates more than 800 stores in Belgium and Luxembourg, where the firm holds an estimated 25% market share, while the remainder of Delhaize’s stores (around 15% of sales) are located in several Eastern European countries (predominantly Greece, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Serbia, and Romania) and Indonesia. A majority of the firm’s Belgian stores operate under the Delhaize umbrella, although the company’s store network has a broad reach. Just under 20% of the company’s traditional grocery stores are company owned and operated, while another 25% of stores are franchised. The company also operates a handful of city stores, and has increasingly grown out its convenience store banners. In addition, the company is in the early stages of rolling out discount banner stores, and it operates more than 100 Tom & Go specialty retail pet stores.
VALUATION
Economic Moat | Fair value | Stewardship Rating | |||||
None | EUR 48,00 | Standard | |||||
Moat Trend | Uncertainty | Sector | |||||
Negative | High |
Defensieve consumptiegoederen |
BULLS
- Delhaize’s major price investments at the Food Lion banner should allow the firm to continue driving traffic and defend market share.
- While the economic environment in Greece remains challenging, Delhaize’s established scale could help the firm outlast smaller rivals that lack comparable scale. Share gains could improve the firm’s long-term competitive position in the region.
- Delhaize has launched new assortment optimization platforms to push sales into higher-margin products, which should help offset price investments the company is making.
BEARS
- Competitive pressures are intensifying rapidly in the United States, where Delhaize derives more than 60% of its overall sales.
- Operations in Belgium account for more than 20% of sales and operating profits. Economic conditions remain challenging in this region, and future austerity measures could lead to a prolonged recession.
- Greece, where around 8% of Delhaize’s stores are located, continues to face difficult economic conditions, which could weigh on growth and profitability over the near to medium term even if Delhaize gains share.
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