Ahold appoints Jeff Carr as Chief Financial Officer

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Ahold today announced the appointment of Jeff Carr as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, starting November 12, 2011.

Jeff will be a member of Ahold’s Corporate Executive Board, pending shareholder approval. He will succeed Kimberly Ross who is leaving Ahold in November to become CFO of Avon.

Jeff will be responsible for Ahold’s finance, real estate and IT functions. He will also manage the company’s existing €350 million cost reduction program and explore further ways to reduce costs and simplify the business.

"We are delighted to have an experienced finance professional of Jeff’s caliber joining our board," said Dick Boer, CEO of Ahold. "He has an impressive track record and broad experience in the consumer goods and services industry on both of the continents where Ahold operates. Jeff has been CFO of listed companies since 2005, and has worked and lived in Europe and the United States. His background and expertise in finance will help us to pursue our growth strategy," Boer said.

Jeff Carr (49) is a British national. He is currently group finance director and a member of the board at UK-based FirstGroup, the leading transport operator in the United Kingdom and North America, including Greyhound in the United States and Canada. Before joining FirstGroup, he was group finance director and board member at easyJet, and held senior financial roles at Associated British Foods, Reckitt Benckiser, and Grand Metropolitan. He began his career at Unilever.

The Ahold Supervisory Board will nominate Jeff for appointment to Ahold’s Corporate Executive Board at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on April 17, 2012. Until then, he will be an acting member of the Corporate Executive Board.

The terms and conditions of Jeff's contract comply with Ahold's remuneration policy.

Cautionary notice

This press release includes forward-looking statements, which do not refer to historical facts but refer to expectations based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those included in such statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements as to Ahold's cost reduction program and strategy. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Ahold’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as the effect of general economic or political conditions, fluctuations in exchange rates or interest rates, increases or changes in competition, Ahold’s ability to implement and complete successfully its plans and strategies, the benefits from and resources generated by Ahold’s plans and strategies being less than or different from those anticipated, changes in Ahold’s liquidity needs, the actions of competitors and third parties and other factors discussed in Ahold’s public filings and other disclosures. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Ahold does not assume any obligation to update any public information or forward-looking statements in this press release to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as may be required by applicable laws. Outside the Netherlands, Koninklijke Ahold N.V., being its registered name, presents itself under the name of “Royal Ahold” or simply “Ahold”.