This is the first decline of the business in the past few years and it came despite the overall growth of the beer market in 2017.
Romanian consumers drank more than 16 million hectoliters of beer (82 liters per capita) last year, 2% more than in 2016, according to the data from the Brewers of Romania Association.
Heineken brand saw 10% higher sales in Romania in 2017, the latest report of its parent company in Netherlands shows. This is the second year in a row of double-digit growth for the brand.
Romania is one of the five countries where the brand’s volumes rose by more than 10%, according to the report. Yet the performance of the flagship brand did not help drive up the overall revenue of the company.
Profit, too, was lower last year. Heineken Romania posted RON130 million net profit in 2017, about 20% lower than in 2016.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)