REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGING DIRECTORS TO THE SHAREHOLDERS
We herewith submit to you the Annual Report of the concern, together with the
relevant annual accounts, for the financial year 1971/1972.
The Board of Managing Directors, too, regrets that owing to the reaching of the
age limit laid down by the Articles of Association Mr. J. van den Berg is no longer
eligible for reappointment as a Member of the Company's Supervisory Council.
During the many years that Mr. Van den Berg held that position, the enterprise
greatly benefited from his mature judgment in diverse fields.
With regard to the capitalization of the Company we refer to what is stated below
under the heading 'Annual Accounts'.
By your meeting of February 24, 1972, it was resolved to change the name of the
Company from Heineken's Bierbrouwerij Maatschappij N.V. to Heineken N.V. The
intention of this was to indicate that the activities of the concern are no longer
confined to the brewing of beer.
For the sake of completeness it can be reported that in the meantime the subsidiaries
in the Netherlands have been converted from public limited liability companies into
private limited liability companies.
general The development of the concern during the past year was generally speaking favour
able. Nevertheless there are a number of worrying factors. In point of fact, in several
areas where we are operating the economic climate is not helpful to a balanced
expansion of our activities.
The general monetary unrest in the world during the period under review, caused
by the floating of currencies and the devaluation of - amongst others - the U.S. dollar
and the pound sterling, has inevitably had a retarding effect on our exports. In
addition the inflationary trend in the Netherlands, which is increasingly evident, is
leading to an alarming rise in the costs of our products and services, which can only
partly be offset by the increase in productivity.
The past financial year brought agreement on the entry of the brewing organizations
of the United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland to the Alliance of Brewers in the
Common Market, the European professional organization, with effect from January
F 1973-
The brewing industry of the present six Member States of the E.E.C. has always
endeavoured to adopt a common standpoint with regard to integration problems.
This has not always been possible and we realize that in future it will probably prove
even more difficult to reach agreement between nine partner countries, especially
as the various beer markets now show very different characteristics. We trust, how
ever, that the initial points on which agreement has been reached between the original
six countries of the E.E.C. will constitute a good basis for co-operation in a larger
framework. We are convinced that there is always, after all, more that unites us than
divides us and that there will always be understanding for one another's justified desires.
9
