Heineken Full Year Earnings Beat Estimates

From Bloomberg:

Earnings before interest and tax, excluding some items, rose to 2.9 billion euros ($3.9 billion) from 2.7 billion euros a year earlier, the Amsterdam-based maker of Amstel and Strongbow cider said in a statement today. That exceeded the median estimate of 10 analysts for profit of 2.85 billion euros. 

Heineken gained as much as 5.2 percent to the highest since at least 1989 in Amsterdam. The brewer cut 196 million euros of costs in 2012 through changes to the way it buys raw goods and services. Profitability will improve in 2013, the company said, as volume and revenue continue to advance, with African, Latin American and Asia Pacific markets offsetting weakness in Europe.

• Revenue increase of 7.4% to €18.4 billion (organic growth +3.9% consisting of total consolidated volume growth of 1.5% and increased revenue per hl of 2.4%);
• Group beer volume grew 2.8% organically, with growth in 4 out of 5 regions, driving a gain in global market share;
• Strong Heineken® brand performance with volume growth of 5.3% in the international premium segment, further extending global segment leadership;
• EBIT (beia) broadly in line with prior year, on an organic basis, reflecting upfront spend on business capability building and higher input costs;
• Following acquisition of APB and APIPL, HEINEKEN derives 64% of consolidated beer volume and 59% of EBIT (beia) from emerging markets (on a 2012 pro forma basis);
• Net profit more than doubled to €2.9 billion owing to a non-cash exceptional gain of €1.5 billion, related to revaluation of previously held equity interest in APB and APIPL;
• Net profit (beia) grew 1.6% organically, reflecting the benefit of a lower effective tax rate (beia) and lower organic interest expense;
• Diluted EPS (beia) grew by 8.9% to €2.94 (2011: €2.70);
• TCM2 delivered pre-tax savings of €196 million;
• Free operating cash flow of €1.5 billion and a cash conversion ratio of 80% reflects higher capital investment to drive future growth; and
• Proposed total 2012 dividend of €0.89 per share, an increase of 7.2% (2011:€0.83).

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