Feb 14 (Reuters) - Supermarket group Ahold Delhaize on Wednesday said it expects 2024 underlying operating margin to be at least 4% and earnings per share around 2023 levels, as it sees predominantly consistent performance year-over-year.

The group, which operates the Stop & Shop, Giant, Food Lion and Hannaford chains in the United States and Albert Heijn in the Netherlands, also reported fourth-quarter underlying operating income of 996 million euros ($1.07 billion), above the 913 million expected by analysts polled by the company.

($1 = 0.9331 euros) (Reporting by Diana Mandiá in Gdansk; editing by Shri Navaratnam)