Heineken shares climb as brewer announces strong profits and buyback
Heineken shares rose by more than 12% on Wednesday as the firm announced an organic 5% rise in net revenue for 2024, which came in at €29.96bn.
Operating profit, meanwhile, came in at €4.51bn, an 8.3% annual jump.
Beer volume grew by 1.6% in the year, beating analysts' expectations of a 1.39% gain, and free operating cash flow exceeded €3bn.
"We delivered solid results with broad-based growth and profit expansion in 2024", CEO Dolf van den Brink said in an earnings statement.
"Premium volume grew 5%, led globally by Heineken, which was up 9%. Mainstream beer volume rose 2%, spearheaded by the leading brands in our largest markets, including Amstel in Brazil, Cruzcampo in the UK, and Kingfisher in India."
Van den Brink also noted a strong performance by Desperados and Savanna cider in Southern Africa, as well as underlining a 10% rise in global sales of Heineken's non-alcoholic beer.
In light of the strong results, the Dutch brewer announced a two-year €1.5bn share buyback programme.
The move comes after a rocky period for Heineken, notably as consumers cut back on spending linked to cost-of-living pressures.
Compared with February 2020, the brewer's share price is still down around 25%.
Challenges in store
"We anticipate ongoing macro-economic challenges that may affect our consumers, including weak consumer sentiment in Europe, volatility, inflationary pressures and currency devaluations across developing markets, and broader geopolitical fluctuations", said Heineken in its earnings statement.
Looking ahead to results for 2025, the brewer predicted that operating profit (beia) would grow organically in the range of 4% to 8%.
Technical factors, such as the timing of Easter and the Vietnamese celebration Tết, could affect the first quarter.
Van den Brink told journalists on a call that he is monitoring potential tariffs from the US administration but did not envisage there would be a major impact.
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