Slovakia Bulgaria Macedonia Other European countries Regional Review Europe players in the market. Amstel Brewery Hungary's sales were down from 516,000 hi to 486,000 hi, but the result held steady thanks to improvements in the sales mix and cost savings. Sales of Heineken beer were especially good, with the new 50-cl can sold through supermarkets proving particularly successful. Sales of the Amstel and Talleros brands were down. Rationalisation of the number of Amstel packaging variants to cut costs entailed some loss of sales, but produced an improved result. Marketing plans to increase Amstel sales are under development. Amstel Brewery Hungary installed almost 300 David dispensers at customers' premises. Growth in market share and result The Slovakian beer market grew by around 5%, mainly in the alcohol-free and lighter beer segments. Low-priced beers still account for the bulk of this market. Heineken Slovensko reported growth in sales from 2.1 million hi to 2.2 million hi, which translated into an increased market share, and an improved result. Zlaty Bazant, our local premium beer in Slovakia, continu ed to consolidate its position. Sales were up and Zlaty Bazant is now the leading beer brand in Slovakia. The on- trade contributed most of the growth in Corgon sales. Our Gemer brand performed particularly well in the low-priced beer segment, with sales up by almost 50%, but sales of our regional Martiner brand were down. Heineken Slovensko acquired a number of beverage wholesalers and made good progress in building its nation al distribution network. Capacity at the Hurbanovo malt-house was expanded from 80,000 tonnes to 135,000 tonnes. With a total capaci ty of 165,000 tonnes, Heineken Slovensko is one of the largest malt producers in Europe. Zagorka brewery attains market leadership Despite the Bulgarian beer market contracting by over 6% in response to higher excise duties, our Zagorka brewery increased its sales by 2% to 1.0 million hi, making it the market leader, and posted a stable result. Zagorka, the mainstream brand in the range, performed well and the Amstel and Ariana brands held their position. Ariana is the leading brand in the large low-priced beer segment, which still accounts for over 60% of the market. Imported Heineken will be added to Zagorka's brand portfolio in 2003. Costs were lower in 2002, thanks to the brewery modernisation projects implemented in the past few years. Pivara Skopje posts improved result Beer consumption in Macedonia rose last year. Pivara Skopje increased its sales to 0.5 million hi and posted an improved result. Sales of Skopsko, the leading beer brand in Macedonia, were higher, as were sales of imported Heineken and Amstel beer. Pivara Skopje started distributing Heineken beer in May 2002, which has brought benefits in terms of the quality and cost of marketing and distribution. Sales of soft drinks declined, in the face of competition from low- priced imports. Work on increasing capacity at the brew ery is progressing steadily and will be completed in 2003. The beer marketintheUnited Kingdom contracted. Sales of Heineken Cold Filtered and Heineken Export were lower, in advance of a change in marketing strategy, and Amstel sales were down a little. At 58 million hi per year, the UK is the second largest beer market in Europe. With lagers in general and premium brands in particular grow ing rapidly at the expense of traditional ales and stouts, it has been decided to launch Heineken beer imported from the Netherlands in the premium segment in early 2003, via our own marketing and sales organisation. Heineken Cold Filtered beer, a reduced-alcohol variant, will be with drawn during 2003. We plan to support the launch with intensive marketing campaigns and expect the Heineken brand to have secured a strong position in the premium segment within five years. A new licensing agreement was signed for the production and sale of Murphy's Irish Stout and Murphy's Irish Red. Sales of these beers were down and a plan has been devised to restore the market share to its previous level. The Affligem brewery in Belgium reported sharply increased sales. Around 75% of Affligem abbey beer is HEINEKEN N.V. ANNUAL REPORT2002 26

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Jaarverslagen | 2002 | | pagina 29