Heineken N.V. reports on 2021 first-quarter trading

KEY HIGHLIGHTSBeer volume stable organically Heineken® volume growth accelerated +12.1% Premium volume outperformed growing in the low-teensDeployment of EverGreen growth strategy on track Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board / CEO, commented: "We had a solid start to the year, despite facing severe restrictions across many markets and the closure of the on-trade in Europe due to the pandemic. Overall beer volume was in line with last year, with strong growth in...

Amsterdam, 21/04/2021 (informazione.news - comunicati stampa - cibi e bevande)

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Dolf van den Brink, Chairman of the Executive Board / CEO, commented:

"We had a solid start to the year, despite facing severe restrictions across many markets and the closure of the on-trade in Europe due to the pandemic. Overall beer volume was in line with last year, with strong growth in Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific and modest growth in the Americas. The Heineken® brand had a stellar performance, up 12.1%, with double-digit growth in more than 40 countries. I am proud of our employees' relentless resilience and agility in responding to the ongoing volatility.

We are making great strides in the deployment of our EverGreen growth strategy on all fronts. Most recently, we announced our ambition to become carbon neutral by 2040."

FIRST QUARTER VOLUME

Our highest priority throughout the COVID-19 crisis has been and continues to be the health and safety of our people. Our teams have demonstrated great resilience and agility as the crisis prolongs and recovery levels vary market-to-market. We continue to support our employees, customers, suppliers and communities most impacted by the pandemic. For example, in the UK, we continue to support our customers financially and waived €19 million in rental payments last quarter. In Brazil, we joined the "Salvando Vidas" match-funding initiative of the Development Bank of Brazil (BNDES), to invest in 4 oxygen plants and aid more than 40 philanthropic hospitals with medical supplies in the fight against COVID-19.

In March 2021 we began to lap the first round of severe lockdowns in March 2020. Beer volume in the first quarter was in line with last year, organically (2.1% below the first quarter of 2019). We delivered strong growth in the Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific regions and modest growth in the Americas, offset by the decline in Europe where the on-trade remained largely closed throughout the quarter. At the start of April less than 30% of the on-trade in Europe was operating.

We are bringing our EverGreen balanced growth strategy to life across the business, focusing on delivering superior and profitable top-line growth. We are amplifying our strong premium position to capture the growing opportunity of premiumisation. We are expanding our portfolio by stretching and moving beyond beer into products such as ciders, hard seltzers and other beverages to better serve consumers. We are shaping and strengthening our digital route to consumer. Throughout our volume update below we share some of the most relevant developments.

Heineken® brand

Africa, Middle East & Eastern Europe

Americas

Asia Pacific

Europe

EVERGREEN HIGHLIGHTS

On 10 February 2021, we introduced our new company strategy EverGreen. EverGreen builds on our unique strengths to ensure we emerge stronger from the COVID-19 crisis, deliver superior and profitable growth in a fast-changing world, with consumers and customers at the forefront of everything we do. In addition to the relevant developments on the growth component of EverGreen included in our volume performance, further relevant highlights of EverGreen are included below.

We have started to deploy our productivity improvement programme. In particular, the organisational redesign of the head-office became effective on 1 April this year. The programme will continuously develop productivity initiatives and cultivate a cost-conscious culture.

We reached an important milestone in our digital transformation. In April we executed the first transactions on our new standardised transactional finance backbone for Europe in two operating companies. The roll-out to the rest of Europe will continue until the end of 2022.

As part of EverGreen, we are raising the bar with our Brew a Better World 2030 ambitions on environmental sustainability, social sustainability and responsible consumption of alcohol. For example, we announced a new ambition to decarbonise our own production by 2030 and full value chain by 2040. All our production sites will become carbon neutral by maximising energy efficiency and renewable energy use by 2030. For more details, please refer to our press release of 15 April 2021. This is the first in a series of refreshed Brew a Better World 2030 ambitions, with more to come shortly. 

REPORTED NET PROFIT

The reported net profit for the first three months of 2021 was €168 million (2020: €94 million; 2019: €299 million). The effect from lower on-trade volume in Europe was more than offset by the performance of other regions and continued cost mitigation efforts. 

BUSINESS OUTLOOK

The outlook statements shared on 10 February 2021 remain unchanged. Our business continues to be significantly impacted by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect market conditions to gradually improve into the second part of the year, depending on the roll-out of vaccines. 

TRANSLATIONAL CURRENCY CALCULATED IMPACT

Based on the impact to date, and applying spot rates of 19 April 2021 to the 2020 financial results as a baseline for the remainder of the year, we calculate a negative currency translational impact of approximately €570 million in net revenue (beia), €100 million at operating profit (beia) and €50 million at net profit (beia). 

ENQUIRIES

Editorial information:
HEINEKEN is the world's most international brewer. It is the leading developer and marketer of premium beer and cider brands. Led by the Heineken® brand, the Group has a portfolio of more than 300 international, regional, local and specialty beers and ciders. HEINEKEN is committed to innovation, long-term brand investment, disciplined sales execution and focused cost management. Through "Brew a Better World", sustainability is embedded in the business. HEINEKEN has a well-balanced geographic footprint with leadership positions in both developed and developing markets. It employs over 80,000 employees and operates breweries, malteries, cider plants and other production facilities in more than 70 countries. Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. shares trade on the Euronext in Amsterdam. Prices for the ordinary shares may be accessed on Bloomberg under the symbols HEIA NA and HEIO NA and on Reuters under HEIN.AS and HEIO.AS. HEINEKEN has two sponsored level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programmes: Heineken N.V. (OTCQX: HEINY) and Heineken Holding N.V. (OTCQX: HKHHY). Most recent information is available on HEINEKEN's website: www.theHEINEKENcompany.com. Follow us on Twitter via @HEINEKENCorp. 

Market Abuse Regulation
This press release contains inside information within the meaning of Article 7(1) of the EU Market Abuse Regulation.

Disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements with regard to the financial position and results of HEINEKEN's activities. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond HEINEKEN's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market and economic conditions, developments in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and related government measures, the behaviour of other market participants, changes in consumer preferences, the ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and achieve anticipated synergies, costs of raw materials, interest-rate and exchange-rate fluctuations, changes in tax rates, changes in law, change in pension costs, the actions of government regulators and weather conditions. These and other risk factors are detailed in HEINEKEN's publicly filed annual reports. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only of the date of this press release. HEINEKEN does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Market share estimates contained in this press release are based on outside sources, such as specialised research institutes, in combination with management estimates. 

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