(Reuters) -Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize beat expectations with its first-quarter sales on Wednesday, reporting a higher margin for its U.S. stores while inflation hurt European profitability.

The Netherlands-headquartered company, which operates Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion and Hannaford in the U.S. and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, posted quarterly sales of 21.62 billion euros ($23.80 billion) to beat a 21.5 billion euro consensus from analyst forecasts compiled by the company.

CEO Frans Muller said Ahold's brands are well positioned as U.S. inflation rates start to moderate.

Ahold's underlying operating margin rose to 4.8% in the U.S. while in Europe it fell to 2.8%, hit by higher energy costs and a strike at Delhaize Belgium.

Quarterly operating income was 822 million euros, in line with expectations of 823 million euros.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Helen ReidEditing by Tom Hogue and David Goodman)