- Revenues for first half up +6.6% organically to EUR17.436bn [US$19.246bn]
- Performance “below expectations” as Asia Pacific declines
- Company expects volume falls to moderate in second half
Soft demand in Asia Pacific hit Heineken’s performance in the first half of 2023, although global revenues moved up by +6.6% and beer premiumisation trends remain “strong”.
Beer volumes fell -5.6% on an organic basis in the six months to the end of June, thanks to “the cumulative effect of pricing and a challenging economic backdrop”, the company said, including a -7.6% drop in the second quarter.
Heineken added: “A disappointing performance in Vietnam and socio-economic volatility in Nigeria affecting consumer off-take accounted for over half of the decline in the first six months. The Americas region was impacted by a soft beer market, notably in the second quarter.”
Heineken chairman and CEO Dolf van den Brink described the company’s performance as “below expectations”, adding: “This was primarily driven by challenging results in our most profitable APAC region … In the second half, we expect pricing to moderate, with volume trends gradually improving to a low single-digit decline.”
Revenues in Africa, the Middle East & Eastern Europe were up +9.7% in the first half, with the Americas rising by +8.6% and Europe by +8.9%. Asia Pacific, however, declined by -6.9%. In the first quarter, company sales moved up by 8.9%.
Premium beer volumes fell by -6.5%, driven by Vietnam and Russia, but Heineken said premiumisation trends elsewhere remained “strong”, with low single-digit increases. Prime drivers included Heineken, Desperados, Birra Moretti and Beavertown.
In other developments, Heineken said the integration of the Distell and Namibia Breweries businesses was “advancing well” following the completion of the acquisition in April this year.
However, the company said exiting Russia was now proving “even more challenging” after announcing in April that it had found a buyer for its businesses there.
Earlier this month, Heineken announced that chief commercial officer James Thompson would retire at the end of August, to be replaced by Bram Westenbrink, global head of brand Heineken.
Heineken's official Q2 results announcement.
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