Sizeable profit increase for Heineken in 2017

Dutch brewer Heineken experienced a very successful 2017: both turnover and volume went up and profit grew 25 % to nearly 2 billion euro.

Growth in every region

Heineken’s turnover grew 5.4 % in the past fiscal year, to 21.9 billion euro. The world’s second largest brewery group, trailing AB InBev, also managed a 3 % volume growth and a 25.9 % net profit growth to 1.94 billion euro. “We delivered strong results in 2017, with all regions contributing to organic growth in volume, revenue and operating profit”, CEO Jean-François van Boxmeer said. “The Heineken brand performed very well and Heineken® 0.0 was launched in 16 countries.”  

Across all brands, sales volumes grew the most in Asia, up 8.9 %. Africa, the Middle East and Eastern European managed a 4.9 % increase and North and South America performed admirably with a 3.3 % spike. European consumption remained relatively stable, at + 0.2 %.

The Heineken brand’s volumes grew 4.5 % in 2017, thanks to the alcohol-free launch in several new markets. It grew the most in Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, up 12.8 %. North and South America contributed a 9.5 % increase and Europe another 3.1 %. Asia had to deal with a 5.9 % setback, largely because of weak Vietnamese and Chinese performances among others.

Heineken forecasts further growth in 2018, both turnover and profit wise, but it does expect negative exchange rate fluctuations.