Heineken’s sales fall in first quarter

The Dutch company, whose major brands are Heineken and Amstel, sold 8.0 percent less beer in the first three months of the year, or 5.3 percent on a like-for-like basis. Revenue fell by 3.5 percent to EUR 2.94 billion.

Heineken has a higher exposure to developed markets than its rivals AB-InBev and SABMiller, with western Europe representing some 57 percent of its revenue last year.

SABMiller earns over 85 percent of its profits from emerging markets, AB-InBev 41 percent (2009).

To calm down investors’ jittery nerves, Heineken pointed out that the first quarter of the year is the least significant in terms of volume and profitability. In 2009, the first quarter accounted for 20.5 percent of consolidated beer volume and 20.7 percent of revenue respectively.

On 20 April 2010, SABMiller, the world’s number two brewer, reported a 2 percent rise in lager volumes for the period of January to March this year, with growth in Latin America, Asia and Africa but declines in Europe and North America. In the United States, where it formed the MillerCoors joint venture in July 2008, sales to retailers fell 4 percent.