Zaandam, The Netherlands, June 17, 2005 - Thijs Smit, senior vice president Internal Audit at Ahold, is to leave the company at the end of the year to pursue other interests.
Smit joined Ahold in August 2000 in the position of vice president Internal Audit Europe and was appointed to his current position the following year. He played a key role in stabilizing the company in its most difficult period in 2003 and in designing and implementing the remedial actions as part of the Road to Recovery program.
Smit was also instrumental in the process of replacing a decentralized system of internal controls at Ahold by a one-company system with central reporting lines. Under his leadership, the internal audit function at Ahold was restructured and now reports to both the CEO and the Audit Committee of the Supervisory Board. He is currently chairman of the board of the Institute of Internal Auditors in the Netherlands.
An announcement on the appointment of a new senior vice president Internal Audit will be made later this year.
