Amsterdam (AFP) – Shares in Dutch brewer Heineken plunged Monday after it reported a drop in beer sales in the first half of the year, with volumes down in the United States and Europe. The firm’s stock was among the biggest losers at the closing bell, down more than eight percent on the Amsterdam market, which was flat overall on the day.
Heineken, the world’s second-biggest brewer after AB InBev, reported global first-half beer volumes of 116.4 million hectolitres, compared with 118.2 million in the first six months of 2024. This was also below the 117.0 million hectolitres expected in analysts’ forecasts published by the company. “Notable growth in Vietnam, India…and Mexico was more than offset by declines in Brazil, the US, and parts of Europe,” said the firm in a statement.
Heineken said total net sales were 14.2 billion euros ($16.5 billion) in the first half of the year, compared with 14.8 billion euros in the first six months of 2024. This was roughly in line with expectations. The firm indicated this represented “organic growth” — stripping out the impact of currency fluctuations — of 2.1 percent. Operating profits excluding exceptional items and amortisation — the firm’s preferred measure — came in at 2.0 billion euros, fractionally above expectations.
The company, whose brands include Amstel, Kingfisher, and Savanna cider, maintained its full-year outlook for a gain of between four and eight percent in operating profits, its preferred metric. Heineken Chief Executive Officer Dolf van den Brink welcomed the deal clinched late Sunday between the EU and the United States that averted a possible trade war. “I think it’s good that the uncertainty ends that. Further escalation has been avoided. We have now clarity going forward for Heineken,” he told reporters.
He said the impact of the tariffs — a flat 15-percent rate for most EU goods into the US — had already been baked into their profit forecasts. Virtually all of its products — 95 percent, said the CEO — were manufactured and sold in local markets, so tariffs do not apply. “As such, the impact for us is manageable,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
