Announcing its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended 30 June 2021 Heineken Malaysia Bhd says its Profit Before Tax (PBT) increased 238% to RM33.1 million.
“While the improvement in performance for the second quarter and first half of 2021 indicated signs of recovery, this also reflects our continuing efforts to right-size our cost base as we continue to navigate a challenging external environment. Unfortunately, for the second time in two years, we faced another prolonged lockdown and had to suspend our brewery operations from June to August, the effects of which are not fully captured in our Q2 results,” Roland Bala, Managing Director of HEINEKEN Malaysia says.
Its group revenue for the second quarter grew by 38% as compared to the same quarter in 2020 due to higher sales as businesses and consumers gradually adapted to the new normal despite the intermittent lockdowns. Correspondingly, its PBT increased 238% to RM33.1 million as compared to a pre-tax loss of RM24 million in the same quarter last year when the group had to suspend operations at its Sungei Way Brewery for seven weeks due to Movement Control Order. Heineken attributes the improved performance to revenue growth driven by effective revenue management, optimisation of marketing spend and cost savings initiatives.
Meanwhile, for the first six months, its revenue grew 17% to RM897.1 million with profits registering a 155% increase to RM98.8 million mainly due to higher sales from increased in-home consumption as business and economic activities started to recover. The revenue growth was also due to the effective execution of various commercial campaigns and the easing of social and economic restrictions compared to the first half of last year.
On the outlook, the prolonged restrictions and lockdowns have adversely impacted the Group business performance and dampened the economic recovery in the country. For the second time in two years, Heineken faced another prolonged lockdown and had to suspend its brewery operations from June to August due to the FMCO imposed nationwide, and restrictions were imposed on F&B outlets.
Challenges also come in the form of illicit alcohol as a growing concern and the appeal to the Government for no further excise duty increase or it will only widen the price gap between legal duty paid products and illicit products.
