Heineken grows in Africa, Asia and Latin America

In western Europe, Heineken sold 47.2 million hl of beverages, down 5.0 percent organically. In central and eastern Europe, the decline was even steeper: - 11 percent to 46.1 million hl. However, Africa and the Middle East saw volumes go up 9.2 percent to 19.8 million hl, as did Asia Pacific: +1.4 percent to 2.7 million hl. Output in the Americas dropped too: -8.9 percent to 9.4 million hl.

What must have irked Heineken was that the volume of its Heineken brand fell 2.9 percent to 25.1 million l last year. The U.S. market proved particularly challenging, where the import segment was down 9.7 percent, according to figures released by the Beer Institute.

That Heineken still managed to see EBIT (beia) go up 14 percent organically to EUR 2.1 billion, was attributed to the company’s cost saving programme which delivered EUR 155 million before tax in cost reductions last year. The cuts affected Heineken’s operations in western Europe most of all, followed by central and eastern Europe.

Heineken cited 12 brewery closures (both announced and completed), 4 maltings closures, an SKU rationalisation programme and a head count reduction of 2,500 people as having contributed to cost savings.

The brewer said the global economic downturn would continue to weigh on beer consumption across many regions for 2010 and predicted that average price increases this year will be lower than in 2009.

The world’s number three brewer would not rule out further job cuts.