Dutch Heineken is struggling in both China and the USA. The beer giant missed expectations in its half-year report.
Heineken announces that it has made a write-down of 874 million euros, equivalent to over 10 billion kronor, on the value of its ownership in the brewery conglomerate China Resources Beer. The reason is decreased demand.
Total beer sales for Heineken grew by 2.1 percent during the first half of the year. Expectations were at 3.7 percent, according to Bloomberg's compilation of forecasts.
Heineken bought 40 percent of China Resources Beer's parent company for around 2.9 billion euros in 2018. The deal gave Heineken significant reach on the world's largest beer market. But since then, consumption has decreased in China's slowing economy.
Dolf van den Brink, Heineken's CEO, also sees major challenges in the USA.
Consumer confidence is still at historically low levels, he says in a telephone conference with journalists.
Heineken – with over 300 beer brands in its portfolio – expects an operating result of between 4 and 8 percent for the full year.
The share had fallen by over 6 percent after one hour of trading on Monday.
