Dive Brief:
- Heineken is feeling upbeat about sales, projecting a modest rise in 2014 — particularly in developing nations.
- Such results would stand in marked contrast to 2013. The brewer reported a 4.6% drop in net earnings, not including one-time items.
- The world's third-largest brewer blamed the poor performance on disappointing sales in Central and Eastern Europe, and a delayed recovery in markets such as Mexico.
Dive Insight:
So, Heineken expects next year to be better. That's a great attitude to have. We try to live our lives in a similarly optimistic fashion. But we have to wonder why the brewer thinks things will improve, given that there seems to be no change at hand in the global economic conditions that it says caused 2013's woes.
Perhaps that's why we were surprised that Heineken did not signal that it will to continue to buy rivals in developing nations. Heineken owns Vietnam's Tiger beer, for example. Such an acquire-to-grow strategy is quite popular these days with Heineken's competitors.
