Heineken sold less beer in the first half of the year. While price increases helped the Dutch brewer boost sales, high costs such as energy and purchasing weighed on the result, it said on Monday.
In the first six months of the year, total revenue amounted to almost €17.5 billion – more than 6% higher than in the same period last year. The result was a net profit of €1.2 billion – down 8.6% on a year ago.
Heineken attributes the decline, among other things, to reduced profits in the Asia-Pacific region, the most profitable for the brewer, where beer sales fell by more than 15% on an annual basis, mainly due to weak demand in Vietnam.
Purchasing and energy costs particularly weighed on profits, according to Heineken, as did investments in digitalisation and sustainability, among other things.
For the second half of this year, however, the Dutch company expects profits to rise again. Supply, transport, energy and water costs should fall somewhat, and beer sales should also mostly recover by then, predicts the Amsterdam-based brewer.
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With regard to Heineken's activities in Russia, the company has taken a further write-down of €113 million. This is in addition to the previous write-down of €88 million. As a result, the company says it no longer derives any revenue from beer sales in the country.
"We remain fully committed to leaving Russia, but we have no control over the timing of our withdrawal," said Heineken, which is still awaiting permission to leave the country.
