By Emma Rumney
LONDON (Reuters) -Dutch brewer Heineken warned on Thursday its 2025 beer sales would fall as macroeconomic challenges worsened, further downgrading its volume guidance after it was punished for a similar move a quarter ago.
The world’s No. 2 brewer and its rivals have been battling to restore lacklustre volume growth for years. While brewers have largely been able to offset declines with price increases, investors are increasingly focused on the amount of beer sold.
Heineken’s shares slid more than 8% in July when it warned that annual volumes would be broadly stable, rather than grow. On Thursday, it said it expected volume to “decline modestly” in 2025.
Annual organic operating profit would also be at the lower end of its 4% to 8% range, the brewer said. Analysts already anticipated this, according to a company-compiled consensus.
CEO Dolf van den Brink said macroeconomic volatility had become more pronounced in the third quarter.
“We expect demand to recover when conditions normalise,” he said in a statement.
Heineken’s third-quarter sales were hit in particular by weak demand for its beers in Latin America and Europe. Consumer sentiment has been rocked by trade tensions in key markets like Brazil and Heineken has lost shelf space in its home region after a pricing dispute with retailers.
The company reported a 0.3% decline in third-quarter net revenues, just beating analyst expectations for a 0.8% dip.
(Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Tom Hogue and Kate Mayberry)
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