On Monday, Heineken revised its full-year forecast, attributing the decline in key earnings during the first half to reduced volumes in the lucrative Asia Pacific region.
The Dutch brewery now anticipates adjusted operating profit growth ranging from zero to a mid-single digit for the year, compared to its previous guidance of a mid- to high-single-digit increase.
Following the altered projection, the world’s second-largest brewer’s shares plummeted by as much as 7.5% during early trade. As of 0824 GMT, the shares were down 5.1% at EUR91.94, having reached a low of EUR90.66 earlier.
In the first half, Heineken reported an operating profit of 1.94 billion euros ($2.14 billion) before exceptional items and amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, one of its preferred metrics. This amount represented an 8.8% organic decline compared to EUR2.155 billion in the same period last year.
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The company stated, “Demand in APAC was considerably softer than foreseen, due to an economic slowdown and our own underperformance in Vietnam.”
Nonetheless, Heineken remains optimistic about a robust recovery in the second half of the year.
