Ahold Delhaize released its Q4 and full fiscal 2024 sales and earnings and as it's been for most of last year, the results were decent. But hardly stellar. For the 13-week fourth quarter in the U.S., net sales declined slightly (0.6 percent) to $14.8 billion. However, U.S. operating income jumped 30.1 percent and comp-store revenue grew 1.4 percent (ex-gas). Those are solid results, but ADUSA's underlying operating margin dipped 1 percent and the closing of 32 Stop & Shop stores (with price investments made at its remaining fleet), the divestiture of FreshDirect (which Ahold Delhaize had to "incentivize" buyer Getir a reported $151million to acquire) and lower gas prices, all stifled significant U.S growth. Sales from the Stoppie closings are expected to decrease ADUSA's overall revenue by approximately $550 million. The best U.S. news again came from Food Lion and Hannaford, which posted their 49th and 14th consecutive quarterly comp store sales gains respectively.