Heineken Slumps After Missing Q3 Sales Forecasts; Sees Weakness Ahead

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Heineken (AS:HEIN) slumped at the open on Wednesday after missing consensus forecasts for sales in the third quarter and warning of a slowdown ahead.

The Dutch brewing giant said the world's thirst for beer is waning as the economy slows.

"We increasingly see reasons to be cautious on the macroeconomic outlook, including some signs of softness in consumer demand," chairman and CEO Dolf van den Brink said in a statement. The group, nonetheless, kept its full-year outlook unchanged.

Overall revenue rose nearly 20% to 9.42 billion euros, as the company sold 9% more beer at an average price that was up 11.1% from a year ago, a reflection of how successful Heineken has been in passing on to customers the price increases that it had complained of in its two previous updates this year.

The rise in sales volumes was below analysts' forecasts for a rise of 11.8%, according to Bloomberg.

Heineken stock opened down 7.9% in Amsterdam in response.