World: Heineken reports 204 mln euros net loss for 2020

Heineken Holding NV on February 10 set out a target to restore its adjusted operating profit margin to around 17% by 2023 as part of its "EverGreen" strategy, as it reported a swing to a net loss for 2020 due to the effects of the pandemic.

The Dutch brewer - which also owns the Sol, Birra Moretti and Tiger beer brands - said that it expects market conditions to gradually improve in the second part of this year.

The world's second-largest brewer reported a net loss for the year ended Dec. 31, 2020, of 204 million euros ($247.3 million), compared with a net profit of EUR2.17 billion in 2019 and a consensus net profit of EUR468 million, taken from the company's website and based on the estimates of 22 brokers.

Adjusted operating profit - one of the company's preferred metrics that strips out exceptional and other one-off items - fell 36% organically to EUR2.42 billion, from EUR4.02 billion. Consensus forecast was EUR2.45 billion, taken from the company's website.

Adjusted operating profit margin for the year was 12.3%, it said. Net revenue for the year fell to EUR19.72 billion from EUR23.97 billion in 2019, it said.

The board has declared a dividend for the year of 70 cents a share. It said it didn't pay an interim dividend as a "measure of prudence."

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