Other countries
47 Heineken N.V. Annual Report 2004 Report of the Executive Board Regional Review Western Europe
Despite the disappointing summer weather, which had a significant impact on the sales of its main
product, Weissbier, Paulaner was able to compensate fully for the impact of volume loss in 2004,
thanks to price increases and lower fixed costs due to a restructuring programme undertaken in 2003.
Although the Kulmbacher sales volumes were down, the brewery's brand Mönchshof was a great
success in 2004, scoring double-digit volume growth. Kulmbacher has now successfully integrated the
Scherdel brewery acquired in 2003.
The consequences of the introduction in 2003 of a mandatory deposit on all cans continued to be
felt in 2004. This has led to the almost complete disappearance of the non-returnable packaging
segment and impacted the volume of Karlsberg, which previously held a large share of the canned
beer market. In these difficult market circumstances most of Karlsberg's brands saw sales volume
declines. The exception was Mixery, a blend of beer and cola, which achieved solid sales growth and
further consolidated its lead in this segment.
In Ireland, the Heineken brand increased its share of the beer market substantially in 2004, thanks
to new advertising and the powerful exploitation of sponsorship. The operating result of Heineken
Ireland improved, which contrasts with an overall decline of approximately 3% of the Irish beer market.
In the United Kingdom in the first full year of operation with the new positioning of imported
Heineken, we raised volume and gross margin and made considerable progress in distribution,
ensuring availability of the Heineken brand in cans and bottles in all major supermarkets. Heineken is
performing particularly strongly in the on-trade, where it is sold on draught and in bottles, and is
consistently achieving one of the highest rates of sale of all premium lagers.
Our operations in Switzerland have been under significant pressure from declining consumption,
low consumer spending levels, and the poor summer. This has meant a decline in sales volume and
a lower operating result.
In Belgium Affligem decreased in sales volume, as a result of declining export activities.
In Norway the Heineken brand is steadily growing, while in Sweden the growth was hampered
by the influx of low priced beers.
