KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 27): Heineken Malaysia Bhd saw its beer volume sales shrink by nearly 20% between June and August, amid the lockdown restrictions in the country.

In a bourse filing, Heineiken Malaysia said the sales figures were disclosed by its parent company Heineken N.V. in conjunction with its announcement of its trading update for the third quarter of 2021. 

Heineken N.V. holds a 51% equity interest in Heineken Malaysia via its wholly-owned subsidiary GAPL Pte Ltd.

The world's second-largest brewer said it sold 5.1% less beer compared to a year earlier, with Asia-Pacific sales tumbling 37.4%, as Covid-19 restrictions hit Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia.

“In Malaysia, beer volume declined close to 20%, as our brewery was suspended from June 1 to Aug 16, to comply with the Movement Control Order issued by the government,” it said.

However, it noted that Heineken Malaysia' beer volume grew strongly in September, following the reopening of the economic and social sectors.

Heineken Malaysia is scheduled to release its financial report for the third quarter on Nov 11.

The group’s share price closed up two sen or 0.09% to RM22.96 on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM6.94 billion.