俄乌紧张关系加剧，啤酒商遭殃

    嘉士伯（Carlsberg）和喜力（Heineken）第二季度在俄乌地区的销售表现疲软。而西欧和其他市场的啤酒销量在巴西世界杯的刺激下大幅增长。受此映衬，该地区的销售表现就显得更加不尽如人意。

    丹麦嘉士伯首席执行官韦耀国警告称：“由于消费者正面临更大的挑战，我们认为东欧啤酒市场将进一步受到影响。”虑到东欧地区的形势，该公司下调了全年的业绩预期。

    俄罗斯政府提高了消费税以及禁止多种酒类广告，这些都使得商业环境变得复杂起来，但是对啤酒业来说，俄罗斯依然是非常重要的市场。嘉士伯和喜力是俄罗斯市场上最大的两家啤酒供应商，而俄罗斯在全球啤酒市场占据着举足轻重的地位。

    俄罗斯政府减少酒类消费的诸多措施已经影响了酒精饮料在该地区的销售。市场研究机构欧睿（Euromonitor）和其他一些机构报道称，过度饮酒已经降低了俄罗斯人口的预期寿命，特别是男性的预期寿命。总部位于荷兰的喜力周三称，在过去两年里，俄罗斯啤酒市场整体规模已经下降了25%。不过该公司认为罪魁祸首是赋税的飙升。

    嘉士伯则表示，今年上半年，俄罗斯和乌克兰啤酒市场规模分别下滑了大约6%-7%和10%，并且乌克兰市场的下滑趋势在第二季度有所加速，“地区间的差异非常显著”。

    “我们在乌克兰地区的业务受到的干扰并不大，尽管在乌克兰东部一些城市的配送仍颇具挑战，”该公司说道。

    喜力公司受到的影响似乎比较小，其在中东欧地区第二季度的销量增长了0.8%，但是相比第一季度增速依然有所放缓，并且表现不及其他市场。喜力高层对分析师表示，“很难知晓地缘政治形势和之后出台的制裁措施会对我们的业务造成哪些影响，”与之相比，更大的问题似乎是过去五年间啤酒赋税的攀升。该公司表示，从长远来看，俄罗斯市场依然“具有很强的吸引力，值得公司坚持下去”。（财富中文网）

    Carlsberg and Heineken each reported a softer performance in the region during the second quarter, results that looked especially poor as the World Cup fueled beer sales in Western Europe and other markets.

    “We believe the Eastern European beer markets will be impacted further as consumers are facing increased challenges,” warned Danish-based Carlsberg Chief Executive Jørgen Buhl Rasmussen. Carlsberg trimmed its expectations for the year, citing the challenges in Eastern Europe.

    Russia is an important market for the beer industry, though the climate there is complicated as Russia’s government has increased excise taxes and banned many forms of alcohol ads. Carlsberg and Heineken are two of the largest players in Russia, one of the largest beer markets in the globe.

    But alcoholic beverage sales in that market have been affected by the government’s efforts to reduce the consumption of alcohol in the country, Euromonitor and others have reported, amid some concerns that overconsumption has hurt life expectancy in the country, particularly for men. Dutch-based Heineken on Wednesday estimated the overall beer market in Russia has dropped 25% the past two years, though it said most of the woes were due to tax hikes.

    Carlsberg said the value of the Russian beer market slipped an estimated 6%-7% in the first six months of the year, while Ukraine’s beer market was down an estimated 10%. The decline in the Ukraine accelerated in the second quarter, with “significant variances between regions” there, Carlsberg said.

    “We have been able to operate our business in Ukraine with limited disruptions, although distribution in some cities in parts of eastern Ukraine has been challenging,” the company said.

    Heineken appeared less affected, reporting volume grew 0.8% in Central and Eastern Europe in the second quarter. That’s still a deceleration in growth from the first quarter, and also underperformed all other markets. Heineken executives told analysts that it was “difficult to access what the geopolitical situation and all the rising sanctions will have on our business,” but said the bigger issue appeared to be tax hikes levied against beer the past five years. The company said in the long term it still sees Russia as “a good market to be in.”