Heineken results in Romania were also impacted by increased price promotion by competition, but the company said its market share rose slightly.
Romania’s beer market fell 8% on the year in the first eight months of 2013, to a record low since 2008 due to higher excise duties, the country’s brewers association said in November. Over 97% of the beer consumed in Romania is locally produced.
Heineken owns four breweries in Romania, in Miercurea Ciuc, Constanta, Craiova and Mures, and employs 1,100 people.
The group’s sales in Central and Eastern Europe fell 5.6% in 2013, to EUR3.1 billion, while the consolidated operating profit fell 13%, to EUR290 million, mainly on lower profitability in Russia, Poland and Romania, the company stated.
The group’s beer volume sales in CEE fell 6% last year to 44.3 million hectoliters as higher volume in Austria, Hungary, Germany and Serbia was more than offset by lower volume in Russia, Poland, Slovakia, Greece and Romania.
Heineken’s revenues worldwide rose a mere 1.3% in 2013 to EUR21.25 billion, while its net profit dropped 53% to EUR1.36 billion.