Cheers to Heineken!!!

Dutch brewer Heineken reported a 20% increase in net profit for the first half of 2009 after booking a one-time gain on the repurchase of distressed debt at one of its subsidiaries.
Net profit was 489 million guilder ($700m) compared with 407 million guilder in the same period a year earlier. Heineken booked gains of 84 million this year after repurchasing debt at the pub-managing arm of Scottish & Newcastle, which Heineken bought for 14.3 billion in May 2008.
Sales rose 11% to 7.15 billion, boosted by the Scottish & Newcastle buy, which made Heineken the largest brewer in Britain.
The company said that comparing the same operations in both years, sales would have fallen 0.4%. Sales volumes dropped 5.6% amid the economic downturn but the company successfully hiked prices.
Heineken, which is family-controlled, reports earnings twice annually.
"The strength of our brand portfolio has enabled us to support our margins, achieving a stable top line performance despite lower volumes," said chief executive Jean-Francois van Boxmeer in a statement.
He said the integration of Scottish & Newcastle was now complete. The company said it expects business conditions to remain difficult in the second half of the year.
"Heineken remains cautious on the development of global beer consumption and expects year-on-year volume declines in many markets in the second half of 2009 as a result of rising unemployment and lower disposable incomes," the company said.
"Better pricing will continue to have a positive effect, although the impact will be less than in the first half of 2009."
The company said it plans to defend the prices of its main brands via advertising, and keep profit margins steady by cutting costs.

Source: Fin24