HEIA Heineken

By Michael Susin

Heineken Holding NV posted on Wednesday a swing to net profit for 2021, above market expectations, though the company warned that it expects to be significantly hit by inflationary pressures.

The Dutch brewer--which also owns the Sol, Birra Moretti and Tiger beer brands--said that it expects significant inflationary and supply-chain pressure in 2022, as it continues to navigate an uncertain environment, and that it will raise prices to offset the increases.

"We will offset these input cost increases through pricing in absolute terms, which may lead to softer beer consumption," the company said.

The company reported a net profit for the year ended Dec. 31 of 3.32 billion euros ($3.77 billion), compared with a net loss of EUR204 million in 2020, and a company-compiled consensus profit of EUR2.28 billion based on 23 brokers' forecasts.

The world's second-largest brewer said adjusted operating profit--one of the company's preferred metrics that strips out exceptional and other one-off items--increased organically to EUR3.41 billion, from EUR2.42 billion. Consensus forecast was EUR3.3 billion, taken from the company's website.

Adjusted operating profit margin for the year was 15.6%, it said. Net revenue for the year rose to EUR21.94 billion from EUR19.72 billion in 2020, it said.

The board has declared a dividend for the year of EUR1.24 a share. This compares with a total dividend of 70 euro cents a share in the prior year.

Write to Michael Susin at michael.susin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 16, 2022 01:45 ET (06:45 GMT)

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