Heineken takes advantage of reopening of restaurants and cafes

Dutch brewer Heineken on Monday reported a strong rebound in first-half net profit to € 1.03 billion, driven by the reopening of restaurants and cafes in parts of the world.

The group had recorded a loss of 297 million euros in the same period in 2020.

Read also: Heineken invests to foam Gallia craft beer

This rebound is in particular due to "

the gradual lifting of the significant restrictions implemented last year in most markets to contain the spread of Covid-19

", explains the CEO of the brewer, Dolf van den Brink, quoted in a

press

release. of the group.

Turnover for the first half of the year increased 8.3% to 10 billion euros.

The organic increase in beer volumes was 16.8% for the second half, thanks in particular to good performances in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and America.

But the world number two in beer, behind Belgian-Brazilian AB InBev, expects overall annual financial results to remain below 2019. Listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, Heineken stock was up 1 , 26% to 99.42 euros around 11:00 am (0900 GMT), in an AEX index up 0.55% to 758.94 points.

"

Not uniform

"

“

The recovery is not uniform across all geographies, and in some countries new waves and variants of the virus have resulted in further restrictions, especially in Asia-Pacific and Africa,

” Dolf van den Brink noted.

The CEO of the group also notes an increase in the costs of raw materials "

which will begin to affect us in the second half of this year and will have a significant effect in 2022

".

Read also: Heineken pays a higher price for the crisis than Carlsberg

Heineken had suffered the full brunt of the health crisis with the closure of bars, forcing it to cut 8,000 jobs - or about 10% of its workforce - after falling into the red in 2020. “

To date, more than half of benefits of the expected reduction of 8,000 full-time positions have materialized, and the rest will be by the end of the first quarter of 2022,

”the group said in the press release.

Almost a third of the reductions occur in Europe

“

In terms of turnover, the results of Heineken are slightly better than expected, and significantly better in terms of operating profit

,” observes Wim Hoste, analyst at the bank-insurer KBC.

This is partly explained by structural cost savings and optimization of sales and marketing costs, he notes, adding that these marketing expenses are "

below expectations

".

Founded in 19th century Amsterdam, Heineken produces and sells over 300 brands of beer and cider, including Heineken, Strongbow and Amstel, and employs over 85,000 people worldwide.