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 1972/1973.
The Board of Managing Directors wishes to associate itself with the words of gratitude expressed
by the Members of the Supervisory Council, in their recommendations accompanying this Report,
with reference to the retirement of the four Members, Mr. M. Fentener van Vlissingen,
Mr. R. M. L. Hinzelin, Mr. C. T. de Vries Robbé and Jonkheer H. A. van Karnebeek. We have
always had a very good working relationship with the retiring Members and their contribution
towards the determination of group policy was highly appreciated by us.
At your Annual General Meeting held on February 22, 1973, Mr. P. J. G. van Doorne was
appointed a Member of the Company's Supervisory Council.
On April 28, 1973, the presentation of the Dr. H. P. Heineken prize took place for the
fourth time. The winner, designated by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences, was
Prof. Dr. Christian De Duve, professor at the University of Louvain and the Rockefeller University
in New York. We should like to take this opportunity to thank H. R. H. Prince Claus of the
Netherlands once again for agreeing to make the official presentation of the prize.
In 1973 the centenary of the enterprise as a public limited liability company was commemorated.
The Articles of Association of Fleineken Nederlands Beheer B.V., the company within the Heine-
ken group in which the Netherlands activities of the concern in the production and marketing
of beer, soft drinks, spirits and wine are concentrated, were adapted during the first half of 1973
to the requirements of the new company law (the 'Corporate Structure Act').
At the same time, within the framework of this Act a new Supervisory Council of Heineken
Nederlands Beheer B.V. was appointed.
The Council consists at present of the Members Mr. A. Jiskoot, chairman, Mr. J. P. Coelingh,
vice-chairman, Mr. D. Boterenbrood, Mr. R. van de Vijver, Prof. N. E. H. van Esveld and
Mr. J. J. A. Berger.
GENERAL
Sales of products made by the concern have developed satisfactorily both in the Netherlands
and abroad.
The trading profit has not increased to the same extent.
Developments in the economic and monetary field have been a hindrance this year.
The continuing inflation caused substantial cost increases per unit of sales. As a result of the price
policy followed by the Government, only part of these cost increases could be passed on to the
customer in the Netherlands, which led to an encroachment upon the gross profit margin. By
maximum efficiency within the enterprise we are endeavouring to minimize the rise in costs, but in
this respect, too, the possibilities are not unlimited.
As regards our exports, apart from the cost increases in the Netherlands and the revaluation of
the guilder, which took place in the last month of our financial year, we were confronted with
large currency fluctuations, factors which were not without their immediate effect on our export
margins. The lower rates for the U.S. dollar, the pound sterling and the associated currencies
