Is it worth investing in "beer" now?

We are not talking about drinking your favourite drink, but about Heineken shares. The latter has recently managed to make better profits than expected. But what does an investor need to consider when buying shares, apart from taking profits into account?

Heineken in profit

To start with, we must highlight the beer maker's recent success, as Heineken has made higher-than-expected profits in 2022, thanks to a recovery in beer drinking to pre-pandemic levels. The EU's top-selling producer can also attribute this success to the fact that beer sales in Europe have proved resilient, with fourth-quarter sales up on 2022.

Heineken's operating profit before one-off items increased 24% to €4.50bn in 2022, compared to the average forecast of €4.43bn. The company sold 6.9% more beer globally than in 2021, with higher priced premium beers growing faster. The company also performed well in Asia, with profits up by almost a third, with the recovery coming a year after the introduction of COVID-19 restrictions in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Technology stocks on the decline

For traditional investing such as buying stocks, many investors also see the story behind a brand or company, but need to be wary of whether the company is losing money. The current trend has changed somewhat and technology investing has lost its appeal. This is where the increased interest in companies like Heineken, which have a stable background, comes in. The first positive factor for Heineken, namely profitability, is fulfilled. However, let's also talk about the risks involved in the production and distribution of beer.

Risks for Heineken

In selling beer and other products today, the company has to face a worsening economic situation where consumers are cutting back on their purchases and consumption is declining due to fears of recession. As a result of rising beer production costs, mainly related to higher energy and prices for inputs such as barley or hops, the company has to optimise. Even so, it had to proceed with price increases averaging 10% for 2022.

Despite the many risks affecting Heineken today, it is impressive how the company has been able to cope with them and the profitability it is achieving. Heineken has a market capitalisation of EUR 22 billion, which is also a plus factor in investors' decision-making. Very importantly, Heineken has managed to increase their earnings per share by approximately 23% per year over a period of 3 years. This is a decent result for investors and if this becomes the norm for the next year, this investment would clearly be attractive for everyone.

Heineken's share performance over the last 5 years. (Source: Investing)

Lucía Žárska, analyst of ProfitLevel