May 23 (Reuters) – Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize (AD.AS), opens new tab said on Thursday it will close an undisclosed number of underperforming Stop & Shop grocery stores in the U.S. this year.

Ahold Delhaize declined to disclose the number of shops affected, saying it would do so later in the year.

“Stop & Shop has already evaluated its overall portfolio and will make difficult decisions to close underperforming stores to create a healthy store base for the long term,” the group’s U.S. CEO JJ Fleeman said during a call with analysts.