Performance | Cr Snow Beer Earned 29% Less Last Year, Dividend Increased to 55.7 Cents

China Resources Beer (00291) announced its full-year results ending last year. Shareholders’ profit was RMB 3.371 billion, a decrease of 28.87% year-on-year. Basic earnings per share were RMB 1.04.

The group declared a final dividend of RMB 0.557 per share, up 43.93% year-on-year; combined with an interim dividend of RMB 0.464, total annual dividend was RMB 1.021, an increase of 34.34%, the highest in the past five years.

During the period, revenue was RMB 37.985 billion, a decrease of 1.68% year-on-year. Gross profit margin increased by 0.5 percentage points to 43.1%.

Last year, in the beer business, beer sales volume grew by 1.4% year-on-year, with revenue remaining stable at approximately RMB 36.489 billion. The continued premiumization and cost savings in raw material procurement drove a 1.4 percentage point increase in gross profit margin to 42.5%.

By 2025, sales volume of sub-premium and above beers is expected to grow by mid to high single digits year-on-year, accounting for nearly 25% of total sales. Premium and above beers are expected to grow by nearly 10 percentage points. Among them, “Heineken” sales grew nearly 20% despite a high base, “Old Snow” sales increased by 60%, and “Red爵” sales doubled.

During the period, the baijiu industry experienced complex and volatile conditions, with structural deep adjustments. Facing declining market capacity, increased industry segmentation, rising inventories, and shrinking consumption scenarios, the industry faced significant pressure in the second half of the year. The group’s baijiu business revenue was RMB 1.496 billion. Considering the current market environment and actual business conditions, the group recognized an impairment loss of RMB 2.877 billion related to goodwill in the baijiu segment.

Looking ahead, the group stated it will further strengthen brand building, implementing a “Chinese brand + international brand” dual-driven strategy to develop a product matrix with strong market competitiveness. In terms of channels, it will accelerate the development of emerging businesses, including chain stores, online sales, and innovative products, while building a high-quality, efficient, agile, low-cost, and intelligent supply chain management system. Additionally, the group will continue to enhance technological innovation capabilities to drive business growth, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and optimize operations, while overall increasing the resilience and flexibility of the supply chain.