Heineken Malaysia posts RM61.6mil profit

PETALING JAYA: Brewer Heineken Malaysia Bhd has posted a net profit of RM61.58mil in its second quarter ended June 30 amid the soft market sentiment.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Heineken Malaysia announced that it had delivered satisfactory results in the quarter despite a weaker sales performance.

The Main Market-listed company recorded an overall revenue of approximately RM406.58mil for the quarter in review.

There are no comparative figures for the preceding year’s corresponding period due to the company having changed its financial year-end.

Heineken Malaysia managing director Hans Essaadi was positive on the company’s financial performance for the quarter, despite the challenging market conditions which weighed down the group’s overall sales.

“The performance in the second quarter was commendable and demonstrated resilience despite challenging market conditions. Our focus on growing the cider category is showing encouraging results, delivering double-digit growth in the first half.

“We are also proud of our latest innovation, Guinness Bright, which strengthens our winning portfolio and makes it even more exciting.

“Our continued focus on the effective execution of key strategies whilst optimising our costs and commercial spend has enabled Heineken Malaysia to grow and improve results from the previous quarter,” said

Essaadi.

In the first half of financial year 2017, Heineken Malaysia registered a total of RM110.55mil in earnings.

Its overall top line stood at approximately RM807.69mil.

“While we expect the market to remain challenging due to cautious consumer spending amidst worries of the rising cost of living and economic uncertainties, we will continue to leverage on our portfolio of iconic brands as well as robust execution of commercial strategies to deliver a stronger performance for the remaining period of the year,” said Essaadi.

The group has declared a dividend of 40 sen for the second quarter. Earnings per share was at 20.38 sen.