Big Beer’s stumbles leave investors ice cold
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.
By Aimee Donnellan
LONDON, Aug 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) -Heineken shares are down after it disappointed investors hoping for a sport-fuelled profit party. Rival Carlsberg’s valuation has fallen due to a $4 bln soft drinks takeover. For CEOs, emerging markets growth and deals in the right areas are the only way to add fizz to stocks.
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CONTEXT NEWS
Danish brewer Carlsberg on Aug. 13 lifted its forecast for full-year operating profit growth despite reporting weaker-than-expected sales in a second quarter hit by bad weather.
The company said it now expected full-year organic operating profit growth of between 4% and 6%, up from its previous range of 1% to 5%.
Heineken shares slid almost 8% on July 29 after an expected sports-led boost for beer sales failed to materialise. The Dutch brewer also took an 874 million euro impairment charge on a Chinese investment.
The maker of Europe’s top-selling lager reported a 12.5% rise in operating profit for the first six months of the year, below the 13.2% growth forecast by analysts, according to a company-compiled consensus. Its first-half revenue and volumes also came in slightly below expectations.
Heineken now expects organic operating profit growth of between 4% and 8% in 2024. That’s an increase to the bottom end of its previous guidance of between low and high single-digit growth but still below the 8.2% growth analysts expect, according to forecasts compiled by LSEG.
Shares in Carlsberg were up 0.12% by 0731 GMT on Aug. 14.
Editing by Francesco Guerrera and Oliver Taslic
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