Ahold Delhaize

CHICAGO & QUINCY, Mass. - Leading Internet grocer Peapod Inc. and New England grocer Stop & Shop today announced the expansion of their online service to the Hartford, Conn., metropolitan area.

AMSTERDAM - Dutch retailer Ahold, embroiled in an accounting scandal, said on Friday it would ask for permission to postpone publication of its disputed 2002 results until the end of November at the latest.

NEW YORK - At least four major foodmakers -- Kraft Foods, Tyson Foods, General Mills and H.J. Heinz -- have acknowledged that they are cooperating with federal investigations into possible accounting fraud at U.S. Foodservice, Ahold's food distribution business.

ZAANDAM, The Netherlands - Ahold today said it intends to divest its operations in Brazil, Argentina, Peru, and Paraguay, in order to concentrate on its mature and most stable markets and generate funds to pay down debt.

COLUMBIA, Md. - Ahold-owned U.S. Foodservice may have failed to pass along millions of dollars in rebates to government customers, including the U.S. military, public schools, prisons and state agencies, Monday's Wall Street Journal reported, citing current and former senior managers.

AMSTERDAM - As it battles an accounting scandal, Ahold's share value fell as much as eight percent this morning due to new fears that a probe at its U.S. Foodservice unit would unveil more problems, according to Reuters.

AMSTERDAM - In light of the ongoing investigations at Ahold, the company says it has reopened an investigation into irregular transactions at its Argentine subsidiary, Disco, and extended the probe to include all the unit's Latin American operations.

SANTIAGO, Chile - Santa Isabel, a supermarket chain controlled by Ahold, is preparing to sell its assets in Peru and Paraguay, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.