Beer industry giants: Some places have higher profits, others have sales that increase by hundreds of billions but still lose money

The second quarter coincided with the Euro 2024 "fever", with many beer companies seeing a significant increase in sales. However, if the first half of this year is included, profits in many places are still sluggish amid tightening of alcohol concentration regulations...

The beer market is increasingly competitive, and is under great pressure from Decree 100 tightening alcohol concentration - Photo: QUANG DINH

Revenue increased by hundreds of billions, but a beer company still made a loss.

Consolidated financial statements for the second quarter of 2024 of the Joint Stock Company Hanoi Beer - Thanh Hoa showed that quarterly net revenue reached nearly 440 billion VND, up 7.5% over the same period.

However, the cost of goods sold increased, and Thanh Hoa Beer's gross profit decreased. Thanks to the reduction in business management costs and better financial revenue, the company still reported a profit after tax that was 3 times higher than the same period last year, reaching 3.8 billion VND.

In the first 6 months of this year, Thanh Hoa Beer achieved net revenue of 717 billion VND, an increase of nearly 18%, equivalent to nearly 110 billion VND.

However, the cost of goods sold accounted for 667 billion VND, an increase of nearly 10%. Adding other expenses, Thanh Hoa Beer reported a loss of more than 3.7 billion VND, higher than the negative 1.5 billion VND in the same period.

According to the leader of Thanh Hoa Beer, Decree 100 on controlling alcohol concentration when participating in traffic has narrowed the business opportunities of the beer industry. To maintain the market, the company must increase costs to improve both product quality and service.

Hanoi Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation ( Habeco ) is the parent company holding 55% of the capital of Hanoi - Thanh Hoa Beer. In the second quarter, the owner of Hanoi Beer also recorded an increase in revenue, but a decrease in profit.

Specifically, Habeco's net revenue in the second quarter of 2024 reached VND 2,305 billion, an increase of nearly 11% over the same period. Cost of goods sold increased lower, only about 7%, reaching VND 1,662 billion.

However, Habeco's financial revenue this period decreased sharply, while sales expenses increased by nearly 44%. Finally, profit after tax in the second quarter reached nearly 172 billion VND, down nearly 9% compared to the same period last year.

Due to a loss of nearly 21 billion VND in the first quarter, Habeco's accumulated profit after tax in the first 6 months of this year was 150 billion VND, down 18%.

There are places with high interest rates, but there are still many difficulties.

A rare case that turned from loss to profit in the second quarter was Hanoi - Quang Binh Beer Joint Stock Company. Specifically, this beer company reported a profit of 1.6 billion VND, compared to a loss of 903 million VND in the same period.

Meanwhile, the beer industry giant Saigon Beer - Alcohol - Beverage Corporation (Sabeco) recorded a decrease in revenue but an increase in profit in the second quarter.

Specifically, Sabeco achieved net revenue of more than VND 8,086 billion in the second quarter of 2024, down nearly 3% compared to the same period last year, but profit after tax reached VND 1,318 billion, up 9% over the same period. This is also the highest quarterly profit since the fourth quarter of 2022.

Accumulated for the first half of this year, the owner's net revenue Saigon Beer Company reached 15,269 billion VND, up 5% over the same period.

Sabeco proved to be more effective in reducing sales costs, business management costs, and interest. In the first 6 months, the domestic beer company with the largest market share had a net profit of more than VND2,342 billion, up 6% over the same period.

Mr. Tan Teck Chuan Lester - General Director of Sabeco - said that despite the strict implementation of Decree 100 and fierce competition from other companies, net revenue this half year is still higher than the same period last year, mainly due to the positive impact of price increases.

"Similarly, net profit was higher due to lower selling expenses, which helped to partially offset lower interest income and lower profits from joint ventures," Sabeco's leader explained.

In the context of a still difficult market, the profit from Sabeco's joint ventures was also 64% lower than the same period, reaching only VND28 billion in the second quarter of this year.

At Saigon - Western Beer Joint Stock Company (WSB), after-tax profit reached 42 billion VND in the first 6 months of the year, down 18% over the same period.

Even sadder is Saigon - Phu Tho Beer Joint Stock Company (BSP), an affiliate of Sabeco, whose after-tax profit is still negative by more than 1 billion VND, while in the same period last year it made a profit of 260 million VND. According to BSP leaders, total output consumed in the second quarter of 2024 reached 12.2 million liters, down 0.4 million liters compared to the same period last year.

Previously, as Tuoi Tre Online reported, late June, Heineken Vietnam confirmed the announcement of temporary suspension of operations of Heineken brewery in Quang Nam.

Like many domestic companies, this foreign beer enterprise believes that the implementation of Decree 100 on controlling alcohol concentration when participating in traffic has also contributed to changing the behavior and new habits of consumers.

As a result, Vietnam's beer market sales have continuously declined.

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