Heineken's new chief executive officer said the company has "more to do" to capture growth, despite sales rising on growing demand for premium and low-alcohol beer, especially in Asia.
Rafael Oliveira, who took the helm of the world's second-largest brewer this month, said the company was secure in its expectations for earnings growth this year after sales volumes increased nearly 5% on year in the three months through September, beating analysts' forecasts.
But while the Amsterdam-listed group has strong foundations, it isn't yet translating them into consistent growth or "winning with consumers and customers as often as we should," Oliveira said.
"There is more to do to sharpen execution, increase pace, and build a stronger performance culture, with greater accountability across the business," he said.
The comments, while brief, look pertinent, analyst James Edwardes Jones at RBC Capital Markets wrote in a note following the sales update.
"This was a good quarter," Edwardes Jones said. "We continue to see attractive fundamentals of the beer category."
However, the consumer environment remains subdued, clouding longer-term growth prospects for Heineken, he noted.
In line with many players in the drinks business, Heineken recorded a steady decline in its share price beginning a few years ago, as high inflation added to costs and damped drinkers' spending power. With sales and the share price sliding, long-serving executive Dolf van den Brink quit as chief executive this year. For his replacement, the group turned to an outsider in the shape of Oliveira, formerly head of Peet's Coffee owner JDE Peet's and, before that, an executive at food giant Kraft Heinz.
Oliveira's appointment was well-received, contributing to a recovery in shares of around 10% year-to-date.
"We see deep change under way at Heineken, and we expect new CEO Rafa Oliveira to drive sharper execution," analyst Edward Mundy at Jefferies wrote in a recent note to investors.
For the most recent quarter, Heineken said sales were boosted by its premium labels and lower-alcohol products, as well as strong growth in Asia.
Revenue rose to 8.09 billion euros ($9 billion), or 4.6% higher than a year earlier. Volumes of higher-end labels rose 11.5%, well ahead of total growth, while low- and no-alcohol volumes also grew in the double digits, Heineken said.
Despite the zippy performance of the premium segment, overall underlying price-mix slowed a little to 1.8%, compared with the 2.8% booked in the year's first half.
"Positive pricing and brand mix were offset by negative country mix, particularly from the strong growth in Asia Pacific," Heineken said. Total volumes rose 17% in Asia Pacific, underscoring the region's appetizing growth prospects for the sector. That contrasted with more pallid volume growth in the Americas and Europe, Heineken's largest market by revenue.
Investment by global brewers in higher-end products is "yielding dividends" in developing markets including India, research firm IWSR wrote in a recent report.
"Beer continues to benefit from consumer willingness to upgrade to more premium offerings," said Roisin Vulcheva, the firm's senior beer-insights manager.
Comments