By Michael Susin


Heineken said its beer sales volume increased by more than expected in the first three months of the year, when its premium beers including its namesake brand outperformed the rest of its portfolio.

The Dutch brewer said Wednesday that its volume of beer sold in the first quarter grew 4.7% organically on year, ahead of the company-provided market expectations of 2.5%, while prices rose by 6.0%.

Organic sales volume at its premium segment, which includes the company's namesake brand and beers such as Tiger, Desperados, Birra Moretti and Kingfisher Ultra, grew by 7.3%, outperforming the total beer portfolio. Momentum on premium segment was led by the Heineken brand and its line extensions, the company said.

Revenue for the quarter was 8.18 billion euros ($8.75 billion) compared with EUR7.63 billion a year earlier. Adjusted net revenue grew 9.4% organically to EUR6.85 billion, missing the company-provided market consensus estimate of 6.94 billion.

"All regions grew volume and net revenue, and we continued to see a sequential improvement in the performance of the business, growing in line or ahead of the category in the majority of our markets," Chair Dolf van den Brink said.

"We continue to see the economic environment as challenging and uncertain, and will remain agile and focused," he added.

Looking ahead, Heineken continues to expect adjusted operating profit, which strips out exceptional and other one-off items, to grow organically in the low- to high-single-digit percentage range in 2024. The company continues to expect adjusted net profit organic growth to be lower than adjusted operating profit organic growth.


Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-24-24 0337ET