The group’s beer volume sales fell 2% in the third quarter due to difficult market conditions in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Russia and Romania, Heineken CFO René Hooft Graafland told a conference Thursday.
Heineken’s beer sales in Romania registered a two-digit decrease in July-September, Graafland said.
The group’s beer volume sales in CCE fell 7% in the third quarter to 14.2 million hectoliters. Its revenues in the region dropped 8% on the year to roughly EUR1 billion in July-September.
Heineken’s revenues worldwide rose 1% in the third quarter to EUR5.7 billion, while its beer volume sales dropped 2% to 52.8 million hectoliters.
Heineken Romania registered turnover of 1.18 billion lei (EUR266 million) in 2012, up 13.2% on the year, and beer sales climbed 5% by volume, Onno Rombouts, the head of the company, said in March.
The group has four breweries in Romania (in Miercurea Ciuc, Constanta, Craiova and Mures) and employs 1,100 people locally. Its main competitors in Romania are Ursus Breweries, Bergenbier and URBB (United Romanian Breweries Bereprod).
Beer sales in Romania fell 3% on the year to 8 million hectoliters in the first half of the year, according to producers, which cite Nielsen data.
Last year, beer sales rose 7% locally to 18.2 million hectoliters.