Heineken blamed the weather after its sales disappointed in a second quarter also hit by a writedown of its stake in a Chinese brewer, sending shares in the world’s second-largest brewer down 7%.
The Dutch group said the volume of beer it sold in the first half rose 2.1%, below the 3.4% increase forecast by analysts, after the Euros football tournament failed to deliver a significant boost.
“Typically big sports events like the Euro cup have a positive impact but the weather has been significantly below long-term averages and below last year, impacting our business,” said chief executive Dolf van den Brink.
A weaker second quarter overshadowed what was a strong start to the year from Heineken as it reversed a period of falling sales volumes. The brewer faced criticism for raising prices too high in 2023, leading to a drop in volumes as consumers balked.
Laurence Whyatt, an analyst at Barclays, said the reaction in the share price on Monday was likely to have been influenced by positive comments made by executives at a recent conference.
