HEINEKEN HOLDING : N.V. reports 2014 half year results

Strong organic revenue and profit growth

Amsterdam, 20 August 2014 - Heineken Holding N.V. (EURONEXT: HEIO; OTCQX: HKHHY) today announced:

• The net result of Heineken Holding N.V.'s participating interest in Heineken N.V. for the first half year of 2014 turned out at €316 million;
• Group revenue +4.6% organically with revenue per hectolitre up 1.5%;
• Group beer volume +3.1% driven by growth in Africa Middle East, the Americas and Western Europe and an improved performance trend in Q2 in Asia Pacific;
• Heineken® premium volume +6.6% reflecting strong performance in key markets;
• Innovation rate accelerated to 7.4%, contributing €682 million of revenues;
• Group operating profit (beia) +13% organically; Group operating margin up 130 bps;
• €141 million of pre-tax Total Cost Management2 (TCM2) cost savings delivered in H1 2014; 3-year TCM2 target of €625 million reached ahead of schedule;
• Net profit (beia) of €772 million, up 19% organically; diluted EPS (beia) Heineken N.V. +14%;
• Targeting year-on-year improvement in consolidated operating profit (beia) margin of around 40bps in the medium term; expected to be above this target level in 2014.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

¹ Refer to the Definitions and Glossary sections for an explanation of non-IFRS measures and other terms used throughout this report;
² Includes acquisitions and excludes disposals on a 12 month pro-forma basis.

Heineken Holding N.V. engages in no activities other than its participating interest in Heineken N.V. and the management or supervision of and provision of services to that company.

OUTLOOK STATEMENT

(Based on consolidated reporting)

Top-line growth: HEINEKEN delivered solid top-line growth in the first half of the year. Whilst the economic outlook remains mixed, HEINEKEN expects positive volume development over the remainder of the year, with an underlying growth rate slightly below the first half of the year. This volume growth will be led by developing markets in the Africa Middle East, Asia Pacific and Americas regions.

HEINEKEN expects revenue per hectolitre growth in the second half of 2014 to moderate versus the first half of the year primarily due to a negative country mix effect. Overall, HEINEKEN expects healthy organic revenue growth for the full year 2014 with an unfavourable impact on reported revenues from foreign currency translational movements.

Continued margin expansion: HEINEKEN targets a year-on-year improvement in operating profit (beia) margin of approximately 40 basis points over the medium term. This will be driven by revenue management initiatives, ongoing cost savings and the anticipated faster growth of higher margin developing markets.

For the full year 2014, margin expansion is expected to be above the medium-term target level.

HEINEKEN still expects a slight increase in marketing & selling (beia) spend as a percentage of revenue in 2014 (2013: 12.6%) and input cost prices to be stable to slightly lower in 2014 (excluding a foreign currency transactional effect).

Consolidated operating profit (beia) growth is expected to moderate in the second half of the year due to slower top-line growth, the phasing of Heineken N.V. head office related and other costs and stronger comparative growth in the second half of 2013.

Foreign currency movements: Exchange rate movements will adversely impact reported revenues and profits in 2014. Assuming spot rates as of 15 August 2014, the calculated negative currency translational impact on consolidated operating profit (beia) is now expected to be approximately €70 million (previously €115 million). At net profit (beia), this effect is now expected to be around €50 million (previously €75 million).

Lower financing costs: HEINEKEN now forecasts an average interest rate of around 4.0% (versus earlier guidance of 4.1%) (2013: 4.4%) reflecting a lower effective interest rate on outstanding bonds.

Effective tax rate: HEINEKEN now expects the effective tax rate (beia) for 2014 to be at the high end of the earlier guided range of 28% to 30% (2013: 28.7%).

Improving financial flexibility: HEINEKEN remains focused on driving strong cash flow generation and disciplined working capital management. As previously communicated, HEINEKEN expects to reach its target net debt/EBITDA (beia) ratio of below 2.5 by the end of 2014.

In 2014, capital expenditure related to property, plant and equipment is still forecasted to be approximately €1.5 billion (2013: €1.4 billion). HEINEKEN expects a cash conversion ratio of below 100% in 2014 (2013: 84%).

INTERIM DIVIDEND

According to the articles of association of Heineken Holding N.V. both Heineken Holding N.V. and Heineken N.V. pay an identical dividend per share.
In accordance with the existing dividend policy, HEINEKEN fixes its interim dividend at 40% of the total dividend of the previous year. As a result, an interim dividend of €0.36 per share of €1.60 nominal value will be paid on 2 September 2014. Both the Heineken Holding N.V. ordinary shares and the Heineken N.V. shares will trade ex-dividend on 22 August 2014.

DEFINITIONS

Organic growth excludes the effect of foreign currency translation effects, consolidation changes, accounting policy changes, exceptional items and amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles. Beia refers to financials before exceptional items and amortisation of acquisition-related intangibles. Group figures include HEINEKEN's attributable share of joint ventures and associates. Group revenue in 2013 has been restated from the earnings release dated 21 August 2013 (with no impact on group operating profit (beia)). The license fee for the Heineken® brand has been increased since 1 January 2014. To facilitate a meaningful financial and margin comparison compared to last year, the regional impact is reported as a consolidation change in 2014.

ENQUIRIES

Investor Calendar Heineken Holding N.V.

Conference call details

Heineken Holding N.V. will host an analyst and investor conference call in relation to this trading update today at 10:00 CET/ 9:00 BST. The call will be audio cast live via the website: www.theheinekencompany.com/investors/webcasts. An audio replay service will also be made available after the conference call at the above web address. Analysts and investors can dial-in using the following telephone numbers:

United States of America
Local line: +1646 254 3361
National free phone: 1877 280 2296

Participation/confirmation code for all countries: 6275776

Editorial information:
HEINEKEN is a proud, independent global brewer committed to surprise and excite consumers with its brands and products everywhere. The brand that bears the founder's family name - Heineken® - is available in almost every country on the globe and is the world's most valuable international premium beer brand. HEINEKEN's aim is to be a leading brewer in each of the markets in which it operates and to have the world's most valuable brand portfolio. HEINEKEN wants to win in all markets with Heineken® and with a full brand portfolio in markets of choice. HEINEKEN is present in over 70 countries and operates more than 165 breweries. HEINEKEN is Europe's largest brewer and the world's second largest by consolidated volume. HEINEKEN is committed to the responsible marketing and consumption of its more than 250 international premium, regional, local and specialty beers and ciders. These include Heineken®, Amstel, Anchor, Biere Larue, Bintang, Birra Moretti, Cruzcampo, Desperados, Dos Equis, Foster's, Newcastle Brown Ale, Ochota, Primus, Sagres, Sol, Star, Strongbow, Tecate, Tiger and Zywiec. HEINEKEN's leading joint venture brands include Cristal and Kingfisher. The number of people employed is over 81,000. Heineken N.V. and Heineken Holding N.V. shares are listed on the NYSE Euronext in Amsterdam. Prices for the ordinary shares may be accessed on Bloomberg under the symbols HEIA NA and HEIO NA and on the Reuter Equities 2000 Service under HEIN.AS and HEIO.AS. HEINEKEN has two sponsored level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programmes: Heineken N.V. (OTCQX: HEINY) and Heineken Holding N.V. (OTCQX: HKHHY).
Most recent information is available on HEINEKEN's website: www.theHEINEKENcompany.com and follow HEINEKEN via @HEINEKENCorp

Disclaimer:
This press release contains forward-looking statements with regard to the financial position and results of HEINEKEN's activities. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond HEINEKEN's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market and economic conditions, the behaviour of other market participants, changes in consumer preferences, the ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses and achieve anticipated synergies, costs of raw materials, interest-rate and exchange-rate fluctuations, changes in tax rates, changes in law, pension costs, the actions of government regulators and weather conditions. These and other risk factors are detailed in HEINEKEN's publicly filed annual reports. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only relevant as of the date of this press release. HEINEKEN does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of these statements. Market share estimates contained in this press release are based on outside sources, such as specialised research institutes, in combination with management estimates.