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| Heineken hikes beer sales, cuts costs more in first quarter |
| Brussels, 20.04.2011 |
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| (Reuters) - Heineken NV (HEIN.AS), the world's third-largest brewer, earned more than expected in the first quarter after increasing beer sales in all regions of the world and continuing its drive to cut costs.
Growth was strongest in Africa and the Middle East despite unrest in Egypt, but beer sales also rose in the mature western Europe market, due to more drinking in Britain, France and the Netherlands.
Heineken, whose chief brands are Heineken itself and Amstel, Europe's number one and three beers, repeated its forecast of a low single-digit increase in input costs per hectolitre.
It also said that higher planned marketing spending this year could impact profits, particularly across Europe, still the dominant part of Heineken's business. Almost half of the Dutch brewer's revenue last year came from western Europe.
The company said consolidated volumes rose by 5.5 percent on a like-for-like basis, the first increase since the end of 2008, to 33.8 million hectolitres, more than the 32.8 million on average expected in a Reuters poll of 12 brokers.
This was partly due to a rebound in Russian consumption, hit by a tripling of excise duty on beer at the start of 2010.
The growth of volumes and drive to reduce costs resulted in a like-for-like rise of operating profit before one-offs of more than 20 percent.
Heineken said this growth in the first quarter, a less significant period for the group, was not an indication of its full-year performance.
Rival SABMiller (SAB.L) on Tuesday beat forecasts with a 3 percent rise of beer volumes in the first three months of 2011, led by emerging markets in Africa and Asia
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Ben Deighton)
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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