Ahold’s Scandinavia and Baltics arm ICA posted third quarter net sales of Skr23.5bn (£2bn) - a 3% increase compared with the same period last year.

At constant exchange rates, net sales climbed 1.3% at the grocer. Operating income rocketed 37% to Skr936m (£82m).

ICA managed to significantly reduce its losses in Norway, but in the Baltics it attributed a 16.5% sales decrease in local currencies to the “worsening economic situation with higher unemployment and lower wages”.