By Joe Hoppe
Heineken NV said Wednesday that profit for the first nine months of the year rose significantly while beer volumes increased, and left its expectations for the full year unchanged.
The Dutch brewer--which also owns the Sol, Birra Moretti and Tiger beer brands--said that for the first nine months of 2021, it made a net profit of 3.08 billion euros ($3.57 billion), up from EUR396 million a year earlier and EUR1.67 billion for the same period in 2019.
The company said this includes an exceptional gain of EUR1.3 billion from the remeasurement to fair value of a previously held equity interest in India's United Breweries.
In the third quarter, organic beer volume fell 5.1%. However, for the first nine months of the year, beer volumes rose 4.0%.
The company said the fall was particularly driven by a decline in its Asia Pacific market, as the Delta variant of the coronavirus hit key stronghold markets, though it was already beginning to see a recovery.
The world's second-largest brewer said the macro environment remains volatile and that it is responding accordingly.
"We are taking an assertive approach to pricing and cost across all of our markets to meet this challenge. Therefore, our expectations stay unchanged, with full-year results remaining below 2019," Chairman and Chief Executive Dolf van den Brink said.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com