Tops Markets, Dutch Parent Company Post Record Sales, Profit.

Byline: Sharon Linstedt

Mar. 7--The 2000 fiscal year was a very good one for the local Tops supermarket chain and its Dutch parent company, Royal Ahold.

Ahold, the world's third-largest food retailer, announced Tuesday that fourth-quarter profits jumped 56 percent, helping full-year profits to surge 48 percent.

For the quarter, net income rose to $343 million, or 42 cents per share, from $230 million, or 34 cents per share, in the prior year's fourth quarter. That improvement beat analysts' expectations for a 46 percent increase.

Sales for the quarter totaled $14 billion, up from $7.8 billion in the fourth quarter. Revenues from Ahold's growing stable of U.S. subsidiaries, contributed $6.9 billion, compared with $4.5 billion in the same period of fiscal 1999.

The super-grocer's …