Heineken, the world’s second largest brewer, wants to decrease the white spots on the global map, where Heineken has up-to-date no major presence with own production. Following the example of Brazil, where Heineken bought last year Brasil Kirin for about $704 million (inside.beer, 1.6.2017) the company could take similar actions in other markets, according to Laurence Debroux, Heineken's Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board .
"We are looking at a number of countries, we are looking at increasing our footprint, we still have a few white spots, but we are not looking at transformation at this stage," she said, adding that this doesn't mean that something "big (and) significant can happen."
Heineken’s full-year results 2017, which the company announced this Monday, were in line with expectations. Consolidated beer volume rose by +3.0 percent in all regions.
Revenue increased 5.0% organically, with a 2.9% increase in total volume and a 2.1% increase in revenue per hectolitre. In 2017 the underlying price mix impact was 2.5%. Reported revenue per hectolitre declined -4.6% mainly due to the dilutive effect of the acquisition of Brasil Kirin.
Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO, commented:
"We delivered strong results in 2017, with all regions contributing to organic growth in volume, revenue and operating profit. The Heineken® brand performed very well and Heineken® 0.0 was launched in 16 countries. During the year, we became the second largest beer company in Brazil with the acquisition of Brasil Kirin, we bought 1,900 pubs from Punch Taverns in the UK (inside.beer, 5.1.2017) and acquired full ownership of Lagunitas (inside.beer. 6.5.2017), where we strongly believe in the expansion of the brand as an IPA of reference outside its core US market. We also made good progress with our sustainability agenda. We have already surpassed our 2020 CO2 emissions target and we have set new ambitious objectives for 2030 with our 'Drop the C' programme.
We expect the environment will continue to be marked by volatility and uncertainty. We are committed to long-term value creation and will continue to strive for superior top line growth whilst working on improving our operating profit margin. In the coming years, we expect this to be driven by Heineken® as well as our portfolio of international brands, craft & variety, low & no-alcohol and cider, with a focus on premiumisation, combined with revenue and cost management initiatives. For 2018, excluding major unforeseen macro economic and political developments, we expect to deliver an operating profit margin expansion of around 25bps. This includes a residual dilutive effect on margins from the acquisition of Brasil Kirin, whose integration and results are very encouraging."
