Heineken NV (HEIA), the world’s third-biggest brewer, reported sales that advanced more than analysts estimated, as demand for its namesake beer surged in markets including Nigeria and Brazil.
Revenue gained 3.4%, compared with the 2.9% median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News, Amsterdam-based Heineken said. Beer volume rose 1.5% compared with the 1.6% median analyst estimate. Both figures are reported on a so-called consolidated basis, and exclude the impact of acquisitions, disposals and currency swings.The “first-quarter performance was robust,” wrote James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. Heineken’s shares rose as much as 1.8% to €52.07 ($71.99) and traded at €51.85 at 9:03 a.m. in Amsterdam trading.After a drop in profit last year, Heineken is anticipating stronger sales in 2014 as some economies start to improve. The brewer is looking to expand sales of pricier beers like the eponymous flagship Heineken brand, which rose 8% in the period. It’s also turning to developing markets to offset European stagnation, and bought control of its joint venture Asia Pacific Breweries in 2012 for about S$5.6 billion.“We are encouraged by a positive start to the year with continued improved top-line growth momentum in Africa Middle East and the Americas,” Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois Van Boxmeer said in the statement. That’s helping offset challenging conditions in Russia, he added. The company reaffirmed its outlook for sales improvements this year.Revenue and volume rose in western Europe, the company said, as it benefited from the comparison with destocking in France in the same period a year ago after a tax increase.
Bloomberg
