Latest news with #VandenBrink
Euronews
12-02-2025
- Business
- Euronews
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.
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Heineken shares pop on bubbly beer sales
Shares in Dutch brewer Heineken fizzed at the market open on Wednesday, as traders cheered better-than-expected beer sales despite a slight dip in overall turnover. The stock rose by more than 11 percent at the opening bell, the biggest gainer on the Amsterdam market, which was up slightly overall. Earlier Wednesday, the world's second-biggest brewer after AB InBev had reported that overall beer volume sold rose by 1.6 percent. This was higher than the 0.3 percent forecast by analysts and a turnaround from a 4.7-percent decline in 2023. Heineken sales figures overall registered a slight dip last year, mainly due to currency fluctuations. Revenue in 2024 came in at 36 billion euros ($37.3 billion), compared to the 36.4 billion euros it made the year before. "Our beer volume expanded in all four regions, across both developed and emerging markets," said CEO Dolf van den Brink. Looking ahead, the company said it expected to post "continued volume and revenue growth" despite ongoing economic challenges. These included "weak consumer sentiment in Europe, volatility, inflationary pressures and currency devaluations across developing markets, and broader geopolitical fluctuations," the firm said. Net profit was down sharply, at 978 million euros, compared to 2.3 billion euros in the previous year. However, the company explained this was due to a one-off impairment from an investment in China Resources Beer, whose share price tanked on the Hong Kong stock exchange. This write-down already hit the half-year results. "It's old news," said Van den Brink, describing it as a "technical adjustment." The firm forecast operating profit before exceptional items and amortisation to be in the range of between four and eight percent in 2025. "All in all, we see good momentum," said the CEO. Sales of the brand's non-alcoholic beer grew 10 percent over the year, with the biggest growth in the United States and Brazil. ric/lth Sign in to access your portfolio
