Heineken boosted by Europe’s beer drinkers as Asia lags

Heineken’s first quarter was boosted by beer drinkers in Europe even as inflation persists in many key markets, which helped offset a weaker performance in the Asia-Pacific region and Nigeria.

Shares in the world’s second largest brewer rose nearly 4 per cent in early trading on Wednesday after it said consumers in Europe were still largely accepting higher prices for its beers, which include its namesake brand and more premium offerings such as Birra Moretti, Beavertown and El Aguila.

Overall volumes fell 3 per cent on an organic basis for the quarter ended in March, below the average analyst estimate for a 1.04 per cent decline. Vietnam and Nigeria had tough quarters but investors were expecting that.

Heineken stuck to its outlook for adjusted operating profit to grow organically by mid- to high-single digits this year even as chief executive Dolf van den Brink warned of cloudy consumer demand for its products.

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The Amstel maker’s results offer a potentially mixed outlook for brewers. As higher raw material costs have weighed on margins, many brewers have resorted to price increases. That, combined with a cost-of-living squeeze, has presented a particularly challenging environment for the industry.

“We were nervous going into these results; in the event they were okay,” said James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Europe, in a note to clients. “We are impressed by Europe’s performance which Heineken seems to have some confidence in.”

During the quarter, Heineken bought back about €1 billion worth of its shares from Fomento Economico Mexicano, as the Mexican Coca-Cola bottler started to divest its stake in the Dutch group in order to better focus on its Latin American retail operations.

It has also warned of the risk of nationalisation of its Russia operations, as a sale of the business is being weighed down by frequently changing regulations in that market.

Heineken said it had submitted an application for approval by Russian authorities to transfer the ownership of its business in Russia. – Bloomberg