Dutch brewer Heineken reported on Wednesday a sharp drop in profits and revenues in 2020, announcing a slow recovery from the aftermath of the 2021 coronavirus pandemic and the elimination of about 8,000 jobs to cut costs.
Heineken reported a net loss of €204m for 2020, compared with a net profit of €2.1 billion a year earlier, while sales fell 17% to €23 billion. The net revenue of the world's second brewery fell 11.9% in the pandemic year.
Consolidated beer volume sales fell 8.1%, with the negative impact of renewed corona limits on fourth-quarter results, especially in Europe, where restaurants closed.
Dolft CEO Van den Brink is cautious in his forecasts, although he believes that covid vaccination programs in Europe, North America and some more developed Asian countries will enable a return to normalcy, after a difficult 2020.
"Only when the whole world is vaccinated to a certain degree can we say we really come out of it"
"Only when the whole world is vaccinated to a certain degree can we say we really come out of it" explains De Brink.
The company wants to save two billion euros by 2023 by reorganizing, reducing the range and spending more efficiently.
The business review found that the company should cut about 8,000 jobs, or 9% of the workforce, by the end of 2019, which will mean 420 million euros in costs. The layoffs are part of efforts to reshape Heineken, whose brands include Strongbow and Amstel, targeting €2 billion of savings by 2023.
The company intends to focus on strengthening premium brands, such as Heineken and non-alcoholic lager. It also aims to become the best digitally connected brewery that will offer consumers beer online.
They expect market conditions to gradually improve this year and, somewhat more pronouncedly, next year, supported by the slow recovery of bars and restaurants in Europe.
They expect their revenues, operating profit and margin to be lower this year than in 2019.
