Heineken’s Investors were disappointed and sent the stock early Wednesday in Amsterdam into a tailspin after the Dutch brewer cut its 2019 operating profit guidance to only a 4% rise. Heineken’s previous forecast was for a mid-single-digit increase after last year’s rate of 6.4%.
The cause for the worsened outlook was third-quarter sales in the Americas that fell unexpectedly by a high single-digit percentage. Especially sales in the United States, Brazil and Haiti underperformed. Also other markets in the world were not up to the expectations, like in the Netherlands, Poland and Indonesia.
Overall markets in Asia and Europe performed very well and compensated for the loss in the Americas. Especially the Heineken brand performed well as consumers move from low-end beers to international premium brands in developing markets.
Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board / CEO, commented:
"During the third quarter, our beer portfolio delivered solid volume growth of 2.3% in the context of a challenging comparison base given a very good summer last year. The growth of Heineken® accelerated to 7.4%. We are seeing increased volatility across a number of our markets, which we assume to continue for the rest of the year. We continue to invest for the long term benefit of all our stakeholders. We expect to grow operating profit organically around 4%."
