Dry times for international brewers who see profits evaporate in Romania

Romania’s four biggest beer producers, that are all part of international groups, continued to reduce their sales in 2014 while their bottom lines went into the red. The four companies, Heineken Romania, Ursus Breweries (part of SABMiller group), Bergenbier and United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, posted cumulated sales of EUR 724 million, down by 1.4% compared to 2013, and had cumulated losses of EUR 2.9 million, compared to cumulated net profits of EUR 13.2 million. The results reflect the tougher market environment for brewers as sold beer volumes in Romania reached 14.9 million hectoliters in 2014, down 8.6% compared to the previous year, due to higher excise tax for beer. Ursus Breweries, which is part of British group SABMiller, kept its top spot in the local brewers’ ranking, with EUR 319 million in revenues, down by 1.5% compared to 2013, according to official data published by the Finance Ministry. The company went into the red again, posting EUR 0.2 million losses. Heineken Romania, Dutch group Heineken’s local subsidiary, was again the most profitable brewer in Romania, despite a 14% decline of its net profit. Heineken had a net income of EUR 31 million for EUR 244 million in sales, down by 3.7% compared to 2013. Bergenbier, which is part of Canadian group Molson Coors, was the only big brewer that managed to increase its sales last year, by 5.1%, to EUR 105 million. Still, Bergenbier had the highest losses, of EUR 23.5 million. United Romanian Breweries Bereprod, which sells the Tuborg and Carlsberg brands in Romania, also increased its losses to EUR 10.4 million, as its sales went down by 2.2%, to EUR 56.5 million. The four managers who run Romania’s largest beer producers Brewers Association: Romania’s beer market needs oxygen Romanians drink less beer and prefer drinking it at home One in four Romanians thinks that drinking more beers is a sign of masculinity Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com