Heineken suffered a bigger-than-expected drop in volume of beer shipped in the first quarter and said the impact and duration of the downturn remained unclear.
The brewer which employs 425 people in Cork under its subsidiary Heineken Ireland, said in its first ever quarterly update today that consolidated volume of beer shipped fell 6.3 per cent, discounting acquisitions, notably last year's purchase of Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) assets.
Western Europeans drank 9.8 per cent less of its brands such as Heineken and Amstel, central and east European thirsts diminished 12 per cent and in the Americas by 16 per cent.
Volumes grew 16 per cent in Africa, including key market Nigeria, and by 3.4 per cent in the Asia-Pacific.
The few analysts willing to give forecasts had expected volumes to be flat to slightly lower.
Heineken said the drop had resulted from the downturn, distributor destocking, smoking bans in bars, excise duty increases, the cold winter and its own efforts to hike prices.
"Beer is relatively resilient but not immune in the current trading environment," chief financial officer Rene Hooft Graafland told a conference call, adding that there were no signs of a downturn in the growth zone of Africa.
He noted the first quarter was a less important one for the company, making up only 18 per cent of annual beer volumes in 2008, and did not offer clear conclusions for the full year.
"But we were able to increase prices, they are in the market and they are sticking," he said.
Revenue also fell on a like-for-like basis, but only 1 per cent, supported by higher prices. Including acquisitions, it grew 24 per cent to €3.05 billion ($3.94 billion).
World number two brewer SABMiller, which has a larger emerging market footprint, said last week it sold less beer than expected in the first three months of 2009 with a fall in underlying beer volumes of 1 per cent.
Just over half of Heineken's 2008 revenue came from western Europe, where brewers are fighting over a shrinking beer market.
Heineken's involvement in that market grew after it bought Scottish & Newcastle with Carlsberg for £7.8 billion ($11.31 billion) last year, mainly getting S&N's British assets.
Agencies