Bad weather impacts Heineken's European performance

Brewery group Heineken has suffered from the impact of a weak summer in Europe, with disappointing sales in the Netherlands and France. Performances in the other regions were better however.

Stable profit

European sales volumes dropped 2.8 %, partly because there was a strong base for comparison in France and the Netherlands, but the weak summer also contributed. Poland also experienced a setback, after the company lowered its marketing investments there. Italy bucked the trend, as several product launches resulted in a turnover increase. There was growth in every other region as well: the EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East, Africa) region grew 8.8 % in volume and the Americas 2.9 %, while Asian sales even grew 12.2 %.

Over the course of its first three quarters, Heineken’s net profit reached 1.486 billion euro, up from 1.239 billion euro the year before. However, last year the company wrote off 233 million euro on its Congolese activities. Excluding that, net profit would have remained relatively stable.