The season for the quarterly results of listed companies is starting to gain steam. Chip company ASMI released its results on the Amsterdam stock exchange on Tuesday after hours, and on Wednesday morning it was the turn of beer brewer Heineken and telecom group KPN.
Heineken increased beer sales in the first quarter of this year and also increased prices. KPN achieved lower profits in the first quarter of 2024, but increased its profit forecast for the entire year.
At ASMI, profit halved in the first quarter. The chip supplier was positive about the order development.
The Heineken share price rose slightly by 0.5 percent on Wednesday, while KPN shares lost 0.7 percent. Investors put the ASMI share 3 percent higher.
Heineken sells more beer and increases prices
Heineken sold more beer in the first three months of this year than in the same period a year earlier. The beer brewer reports this in its quarterly results. Turnover also increased, mainly due to price increases. CEO Dolf van den Brink speaks of an “encouraging start to 2024”. Sales volumes continued to decline last year.
The amount of beer sold increased by 4.7 percent year on year in the first quarter. Heineken sold more than 55 million hectoliters of beer. The company sold most of this in North and South America, where sales increased by 5 percent. Both in this region and in Europe, Heineken reports that it benefited from early Easter, on the last day of March. As a result, the figures have been included in the beer brewer’s results.
Heineken’s premium brands, which in addition to Heineken also include brands such as Birra Moretti, Desperados and Tiger, performed better than the total beer portfolio. Sales volumes of these increased by 7.3 percent.
Heineken sales increased by almost 13 percent. The non-alcoholic beer Heineken 0.0 also did relatively well: sales increased by more than 10 percent, especially in Brazil, Vietnam and China.
Heineken’s total turnover in the months of January, February and March amounted to more than 8.1 billion euros, an increase of 7.2 percent compared to a year earlier. The company does not report how much of this turnover was left as net profit.
Heineken further notes that economic conditions remain “challenging and uncertain”. The Dutch company therefore appears cautious about its expectations for the rest of this year. “Despite the solid start to the year, we cannot extrapolate the reported sales growth to the rest of the year,” said Heineken, which stuck to its previous profit forecast.
KPN increases profit forecast for 2024
Telecom company KPN recorded more profit and turnover in the first quarter of this year. In addition, the group has increased its profit forecast for the whole of 2024 as a result of the acquisition of industry peer Youfone.
Operating profit in the past quarter amounted to 605 million euros, an increase of 3.6 percent compared to the first quarter of last year. Bottom line, less was left. Net profit fell by 11 percent to 175 million euros. According to KPN, this was due to one-off refinancing costs.
Turnover rose by 3.3 percent to almost 1.4 billion euros, partly because the average revenue per private customer increased. “Turnover from consumer services continued to improve, both on fixed and mobile. Revenue from business services remains good, with a strong contribution from small and medium-sized businesses,” says KPN CEO Joost Farwerck in an explanation of the results.
Last month, KPN received permission from the Consumer & Markets Authority (ACM) to take over provider Youfone. This company already uses KPN’s mobile network and has more than 580,000 customers. With the acquisition, KPN wants to strengthen its position in the mobile and broadband market. As a result of the acquisition, KPN expects operating profit to amount to approximately 2.5 billion euros this year. That was previously 2.48 billion euros.
According to Farwerck, the engine for installing new fiber optic connections is running at full speed. “In line with our ambition to provide almost 80 percent of the Netherlands with fiber optic by 2026,” said the chairman.
ASMI makes lower profits, but wins more orders
Dutch chip supplier ASM International (ASMI) has seen turnover and profit decline in the first quarter of this year. Revenues fell by 8 percent to 639 million euros. Net profit more than halved to 173.1 million euros.
The number of new orders did increase, the Almere company announced on Tuesday. Order intake in the past quarter amounted to 698 million euros, 10 percent more than in the first quarter of last year. The latter is a boost for the company because order intake has been showing a downward trend for some time.
Demand from China for ASMI products remains strong, the company reported. “ASMI started the year on a solid basis,” says CEO Benjamin Loh, explaining the results.
ASMI expects demand to gradually increase for the rest of the year. Turnover in the second quarter is expected to be between 660 million and 700 million euros. ASMI is sticking to its turnover target for next year.
