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HEINEKEN has reiterated its full-year 2026 operating-profit guidance after reporting higher first-half profit, stronger cash generation and organic volume growth for the six months ended 30 June.

The brewer expects operating profit before exceptional items and amortisation of acquisition-related intangible assets - its company-defined “beia” measure - to grow organically by 2% to 6% for the full year.

First-half results at a glance

  • IFRS revenue was €17.559bn, up 3.8% on a reported basis from €16.924bn. IFRS net revenue was €14.841bn, up 4.7% from €14.180bn.
  • Net revenue (beia) was €14.834bn, compared with €14.181bn in the first half of 2025. HEINEKEN calculated organic growth of 2.7% after excluding currency and consolidation effects.
  • IFRS operating profit was €2.126bn, up 48.4% on a reported basis from €1.433bn. Operating profit (beia) was €2.170bn, compared with €2.027bn in the first half of 2025; HEINEKEN calculated organic growth of 6.7%.
  • Operating profit margin (beia) was 14.6%, against 14.3% a year earlier. After excluding currency translation and consolidation effects, HEINEKEN calculated organic expansion of 55 basis points.
  • IFRS net profit attributable to shareholders was €1.125bn, up 51.2% from €744m. Net profit (beia) was €1.256bn, compared with €1.164bn in the first half of 2025; HEINEKEN calculated organic growth of 10.2%.
  • Diluted earnings per share were €2.05 on an IFRS basis, up 54.1% from €1.33. Diluted EPS (beia) was €2.29 against €2.08; HEINEKEN calculated growth of 11.6% on a constant-currency basis.

The 11.6% EPS (beia) growth rate removes currency translation and is therefore not the arithmetic change between the two displayed euro figures.

Why reported profit rose much faster than organic profit

The 48.4% increase in IFRS operating profit and the 6.7% organic increase in operating profit (beia) measure different things.

For the first half of 2026, HEINEKEN reconciled €2.170bn of operating profit (beia) to €2.126bn of IFRS operating profit by subtracting €200m of amortisation on acquisition-related intangible assets and adding a €156m net exceptional operating gain. For the first half of 2025, it subtracted €154m of amortisation and €440m of net exceptional operating expenses from €2.027bn of operating profit (beia), producing reported operating profit of €1.433bn.

The €156m net exceptional operating gain included a €473m gain from revaluing HEINEKEN's previously held interest in HEINEKEN Costa Rica and a €68m gain on disposals of subsidiaries. These were partly offset by €5m of impairments, €61m of net restructuring expenses and €319m of other exceptional net expenses, mainly software write-offs and brewery disposal and closure costs.

BEIA is a non-GAAP measure defined by HEINEKEN. For financial measures, organic growth excludes currency translation and consolidation changes; organic volume growth excludes consolidation changes. Neither should be read as reported growth.

Licensed volume and premium brands post strong growth

Total volume reached 142.8 million hectolitres and increased 1.6% organically. Within that figure, consolidated volume was 132.4 million hectolitres, up 0.4% organically, while licensed volume reached 10.4 million hectolitres, up 23.2% organically.

Consolidated beer volume was 115.6 million hectolitres and slipped 0.1% organically. A 6.0% increase in consolidated non-beer volume and the sharp rise in licensed volume lifted the wider totals.

Total and consolidated volume growth accelerated in the second quarter, to 1.9% and 0.9% organically respectively; licensed volume rose 20.3% organically.

All five global brands grew in the half. Heineken® brand volume rose 5.3%, total premium volume increased 5.8%, low- and no-alcohol volume increased 12%, and beyond beer volume was 8% higher. Heineken® 0.0 volume increased 7.2%. All growth rates in this paragraph are organic.

Asia Pacific and Africa & Middle East lead growth

Asia Pacific delivered the strongest organic net revenue growth. Net revenue (beia) was €2.096bn, representing 10.5% organic growth. Operating profit (beia) was €480m and increased 17.7% organically, while total volume rose 11.6% organically. HEINEKEN highlighted Vietnam, India, Indonesia and licensed growth in China.

In Africa & Middle East, net revenue (beia) was €2.110bn and grew 8.2% organically. Operating profit (beia) was €316m and rose 30.8% organically, while total volume increased 2.9% organically.

Americas net revenue (beia) was €5.199bn. On HEINEKEN's organic basis, which excludes currency and consolidation effects, net revenue growth was flat. Operating profit (beia) was €850m and rose 2.2% organically, while total volume fell 3.4% organically amid softer beer markets in Mexico, Brazil and the United States.

Europe net revenue (beia) was €5.697bn and increased 0.1% organically. Operating profit (beia) was €580m and rose 0.6% organically. Total volume was down 0.6% organically across the half, although it returned to 0.2% organic growth in the second quarter.

UK net revenue (beia) and total volume rise

HEINEKEN said UK net revenue (beia) and total volume both increased organically by a low single digit. Its Star Pubs estate outperformed the wider pub market and remained accretive to operating margin (beia).

Cruzcampo volume increased “in the thirties”, Murphy's volume doubled, Inch's volume grew in the teens and Old Mout Flavourwave expanded to almost 2,000 pubs. The company did not publish exact UK revenue, profit or total-volume figures in the release.

Free operating cash flow improves as net debt rises

Free operating cash flow increased to €1.381bn from €257m. Cash flow from operating activities rose to €2.484bn from €1.688bn, helped by a €219m working-capital inflow compared with a €405m outflow a year earlier.

Capital expenditure fell to €1.070bn from €1.410bn and represented 7.2% of net revenue (beia), down from 9.9%. HEINEKEN reported a 97% cash conversion ratio. Its glossary defines the ratio as free operating cash flow divided by net profit (beia) before non-controlling interests, calculated on an annual basis.

Net debt rose to €17.675bn at 30 June from €14.479bn at the end of 2025, which the company attributed to the acquisition of HEINEKEN Costa Rica. Net debt to EBITDA (beia) increased to 2.6 times from 2.2 times, above the brewer's long-term target of below 2.5 times.

Productivity, dividend and 2026 outlook

HEINEKEN reduced its FTE count by approximately 3,000 in the first half, excluding acquisitions and disposals, as it simplified its operating model. It expects 2026 gross savings towards the upper end of its €400m-€500m range.

For the full year, the group continues to expect variable costs (beia) per hectolitre to rise organically by a low single digit. It also forecasts an average effective interest rate of around 3.5%, an effective tax rate (beia) of around 28% and capital expenditure below 8% of net revenue (beia).

HEINEKEN expects the acquisition of FIFCO's beverage and retail businesses together with the disposal of its Democratic Republic of Congo operations to be approximately 2%-3% accretive to EPS (beia). It expects the reduced share count from its €1.5bn buyback programme to be approximately 2% accretive to EPS (beia).

An interim dividend of €0.76 per share, up from €0.74, will be paid on 17 August 2026. The shares are due to trade ex-dividend on 7 August.

Combining the currency impact recorded to date with 3 August spot rates applied to 2025 results as a baseline for the rest of 2026, HEINEKEN calculated a possible full-year translation benefit of approximately €370m to net revenue (beia), €30m to consolidated operating profit (beia) and €20m to net profit (beia). This is a translation scenario, not guidance.

Source and methodology: This report is based on HEINEKEN N.V.'s half-year results release, published on 5 August 2026 and covering the six months ended 30 June. Unless otherwise stated, the release describes its comments and figures as unaudited. KPMG conducted a limited-assurance review, rather than an audit, of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements prepared under IAS 34; HEINEKEN's non-GAAP measures are unaudited. Unless otherwise stated, growth rates above follow HEINEKEN's organic basis; IFRS growth rates are reported total growth, while diluted EPS (beia) growth is calculated on a constant-currency basis. Figures may not add exactly because of rounding. This article is financial reporting, not investment advice.