Delhaize, the Belgian supermarket group that operates the Food Lion chain in the US, rebuffed suggestions that a spat with Unilever had damaged its prospects as it unveiled 2008 results that were ahead of market expectations.

Delhaize last week resolved a month-long dispute with the supplier of brands such as Knorr, Dove and Lynx, which caused Unilever to pull most of its range from Delhaize’s 775 Belgian stores.