just The Preview – Heineken Q1

Heineken will report its first quarter results on 20 April. Here, just-drinks takes a look at the highs and lows for the brewer over the three months to the end of March.

• Heineken kicked off the year in proactive fashion by announcing that it had purchased five breweries in Nigeria. The Netherlands-based brewer already held a 55% share of the country’s beer market by volume. Financial details of the brewery buys were not disclosed.

• A week later and Heineken announced the launch of a global advertising campaign for its namesake brand, under the strapline ‘Open Your World’.

• At the end of January, Heineken suspended beer and soft drinks operations in Egypt due to widespread political protests against the country’s president, Hosni Mubarak. The group temporarily closed its six facilities in the coutnry, although the financial impact is expected to be minimal.

• In early February, Heineken beat off rivals to ensure that its namesake beer will be the official lager at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Heineken will have exclusive pouring rights for its portfolio of beers and cider, including Bulmers and Strongbow, at all Olympic venues in London where alcohol is served.

• A few days later, the brewer announced that its new CMO in the US would be Lesya Lysyj.

• In mid-February, Heineken announced its full-year results for 2010. The FEMSA Cerveza business significantly boosted sales for the year. Without its contribution, sales would have fallen by 2%. On a conference call with analysts, Heineken’s CEO, Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer, said that the brewer would increase its advertising and promotion spend on premium beer in Europe, in order to combat sluggish sales in the region.

• In early March, the brewer announced that the senior vice president of sales at Heineken USA, Chris Steffanci, would leave the company to join Pabst Brewing Co. His successor has yet to be announced.

• At the end of March, Heineken confirmed to just-drinks that it has placed the highest bids for two Ethiopian breweries set to be privatised by the country’s government. It has bid US$85m for the Bedele brewery and $78m for the Harar brewery.

• Also in March, Heineken’s chief financial officer, Renee Hooft Graafland, presented at the Consumer Analyst Group Europe conference in London. In answer to a question from just-drinks, he spoke about how the brewer has decided to “give up” on being a national brewer in Russia. The firm will seek to grow in regions where it is already strong and scale down its presence in other areas.

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