Heineken’s Q3 2016 results – Preview

On Wednesday, Heineken will release a trading update for the third quarter of 2016. Here, just-drinks takes a closer look at the company’s performance in the three months to the end of September:

• At the start of the quarter, Dutch supermarket Jumbo accused Heineken of failing to deliver enough of the brewer’s products because the retailer’s prices are too low. The matter was resolved the following week
• Meanwhile, the company set out plans to serve draught beer on aeroplanes, after overcoming pressure issues that previously made the practice impossible
• In mid-July, Heineken was told it was too early to seek first refusal on Vijay Mallya’s United Breweries shares. The brewer was told to apply at a later date
• In August, Heineken said consumers were “still drinking beer” in Nigeria but warned that many are trading down as the country recovers from a major currency devaluation
• In the same month, the brewer unveiled a new look for its Bulmers cider brand in the UK
• Later, Heineken announced plans to double production at its Red Stripe brewery in Jamaica as it continued plans to return the beer’s production to the country
• Towards the end of August, the brewer launched a 3.3% abv Heineken lager in Australia
• At the beginning of September, Heineken launched its global Formula One campaigns
• The following week, the company said it had made developing in-house craft beer brands a priority over acquiring smaller players
• In mid-September, Heineken’s US unit established a new company for its emerging global brands as it looked to bring import duties in-house
• Meanwhile, the company launched its Sol Mexican lager brand in South Africa as it prepared to lock horns with the incoming Anheuser-Busch InBev
• Towards the end of September, Heineken added a further cache of United Breweries shares to its holding in the Indian beer market leader
• At the end of the quarter, the brewer said it had created a new global role that will focus on global off-premise operators.

H1 & Q2 highlights:

• H1 net profits dropped by 48% to EUR586m (then US$654m)
• Asset write-down, currency headwinds and tough comparable drove decline
• Organic profits were up 11%
• Net sales in the half were up 2% to EUR10.1bn
• Operating profits climbed by 10% to EUR1.7bn
• H1 volumes were up 4%
• Q2 volumes lifted 2%

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