This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 22, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Brewer Heineken Malaysia Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (3QFY17) came in at RM65.87 million, up 15.7% from RM56.92 million recorded in the corresponding three months last year.

Revenue was at RM509.59 million for 3QFY17, up 32.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) from RM384.82 million.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Heineken Malaysia said the stronger profit was driven by volume growth as the market recovered from volume impact as a result of price increases that occurred in July 2016, and a favourable brand mix.

Its top line also got a boost from the launch of its new mainstream cider brand Apple Fox in August and the commencement of sale of locally brewed Strongbow Apple Ciders.

In the first nine months of FY17, net profit grew 4.6% y-o-y to RM176.4 million from RM168.6 million, while revenue rose 1.1% to RM1.31 billion from RM1.3 billion.

Moving forward, Heineken Malaysia managing director Hans Essaadi said his team remains cautious about consumer sentiment, which is still subdued and adversely impacted by rising costs of living and high excise duties on beer.