Heineken sees sales dip as customers feel cost of living crisis

BEER giant Heineken has been hit by drinkers downing fewer pints because of rising prices.

The Dutch brewer said the volume of beer it sold worldwide in the last six months fell 5.6 per cent compared with the same time in 2022.

The Office for National Statistics said UK beer prices were 10.2 per cent higher in June than a year earlier.

Heineken — which also makes Fosters and Amstel — said the global fall in consumption was because of the “cumulative effect of pricing actions” and tough economic conditions.

But it said it benefited from customers continuing to buy more premium brands, with strong performances from Desperados, Birra Moretti and Beavertown beers.

Selling less beer at higher prices meant total global revenues grew by 6.3 per cent to £14.9billion over the half-year.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Heineken’s had a wobble in the first half with a big miss versus market expectations, causing the shares to stumble.

“Despite this, price hikes were enough to offset lower volumes, helping the top line to keep moving in the right direction for now.”

Meanwhile, a British brewery has switched its focus to accommodation to boost its pub business.

Liberation Group, which owns Butcombe Pubs & Inns in the south of England, has quadrupled the rooms it offers from 100 in 2019 to 400 today and plans to add a further 300 in its existing pubs.

It recently took over Cirrus Inns, which added 22 pubs to its business.

BT’S ALLISON WONDERLAND

TELECOMS giant BT has appointed its first female boss in its 170-year history.

BT board member Allison Kirkby will take over from departing chief executive Philip Jansen next January.

She has worked in the sector for more than a decade and currently runs Swedish telecoms firm Telia Company, which has 25million customers.

Ms Kirkby will be in line for a salary package of more than £3million, plus she could earn another £2million in bonus share awards each year.

She will restore the number of female bosses among FTSE 100 firms to nine after last week’s departure of Dame Alison Rose from NatWest.

She will join the likes of Aviva's Amanda Blanc, Jennie Daly at builder Taylor Wimpey and Dame Emma Walmsley of drugs giant Glaxosmithkline.

Ms Kirkby said: “BT is such an important company for our many customers both in the UK and internationally and is uniquely placed to help everyone benefit from the rapid advances in digitalisation.”

BT chairman Adam Crozier called her a “proven leader, with deep sector experience and a history of having transformed businesses”.

She will inherit company plans to ditch up to 50,000 of its 130,000 workforce by 2030.

The shift away from call centres will allow BT — which was founded in 1846 as the Electric Telegraph Company — to axe about 10,000 jobs.

SELLERS RAP ETSY 75% HOLD

ONLINE marketplace Etsy is under fire for keeping three-quarters of sellers’ takings on hold for 45 days.

The delay causes cash flow problems for the site’s army of craft-makers, which can hit their businesses.

Hundreds of small business owners have reported receiving emails from the online marketplace, informing them about the implementation of its “reserve system”.

Etsy said placing accounts on reserve is done to protect buyers and make sure sellers can keep up with their orders.

It said the payment reserves helped “keep the marketplace safe” and cover potential refunds.

But its 75 per cent level is much higher than rival online marketplaces like Amazon, which has a 3 per cent level.

Small Business Commissioner Liz Barclay said Etsy’s “level of reserve is new to us”.
Angry sellers are planning a boycott of the site.

TALKING WEDS

WEDNESDAY is the most popular day for catching up with colleagues by going into the office, according to the Virgin Media O2 Business Movers Index.

Four-fifths say they turn up in midweek but less than three in five staff do so on a Friday as more people choose to work and shop from home to save money.

The research reveals that 45 to 54-year-olds are most likely to go into the office on a Monday and Wednesday, while those 65 or over prefer Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Virgin said: “Women have been taking advantage of remote work more than men. But men may follow suit.”

SUPPLIERAXES 250

BUILDING products supplier Marshalls will axe another 250 workers and shut a factory in Scotland.

The business has been hit by the slowdown in the housing market. It got rid of 150 jobs last year in its battle to save £9million a year.

Marshalls said like-for-like sales slumped by 13 per cent in the six months to June 30, while it expects to report a 27 per cent slump in interim underlying pre-tax profits, to around £33million.

CREDIT HITS HIGH

CONSUMER lending climbed to a five-year high last month as more households relied on loans to pay bills, the Bank of England said.

Net borrowing of consumer credit rose to £1.7billion, the highest level since April 2018.

Borrowing on credit cards stayed at about £600million but other credit such as personal and car loans doubled from £500million in May to £1billion in June.

Richard Lane of debt charity Stepchange said: “Households will be relying on credit for their everyday essentials.”

APPY BANK BUY

A MONEY-saving app founded by the former boss of Virgin Money has been snapped up for an undisclosed amount by specialist bank Vanquis.

Budgeting app Snoop helps people to track their bank accounts and spending.

It was set up by British businesswoman Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia in 2019.

Vanquis has 1.7 million customers who have been turned down by mainstream lenders.

It said: “The combination of our customers and scale with Snoop’s technology will take us from strength to strength.”