Beer giant grows revenue by €60m

Heineken Ireland upped its market share slightly last year and increased revenues nearly €60m as it managed to comfortably outperform a dwindling beer market.

Revenue for the Cork-based subsidiary of the Dutch brewing giant came to €464m in 2011, up from €405m the previous year.

While on a like-for-like basis, annual revenue was up by around €10m, or 2%, last year’s total figure was boosted by the gain of the value of Heineken Ireland’s Northern-based wholesale business being included on the subsidiary’s balance sheet for the first time.

As well as the eponymous lager brand, Heineken Ireland’s chief products include Coors Light, Amstel and the two Cork stout brands of Murphy’s and Beamish. It also has the Irish distribution rights for a number of speciality beers, such as Paulaner and Tiger.

Heineken Ireland increased its share of the total beer market here by 0.2% to 26.5%. The two stout brands upped their share of the Cork drinks market to 57%, Heineken grew its national share to 41.5% and Coors grew by 8%.

However, Heinken’s business here is predominantly reliant on the on-trade/pub sector, which is in continual decline. Declan Farmer of Heineken Ireland said that, as the pub trade is totally dependent on disposable income, and with consumer spend being ever more stretched, 2012 is likely to be “another tough period for the industry”.

However, Mr Farmer did say that while the company is constantly reviewing its operations and cost management, he does not foresee any large-scale job losses in the Irish subsidiary, which employs around 400 people, on the back of the wider group’s cost-cutting plans over the coming years.