Heineken no longer major shareholder of Sabeco

According to Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange, after reducing its ownership to less than 5 percent, Heineken is no longer a major shareholder of Sabeco from November 15, 2019.

Including related persons, after this transaction, Heineken reduced its ownership to 27.67 million shares, representing 4.32% of total shares. Related persons are holding more than 25.3 million shares, or 3.93% stake.

The trading session took place when SAB shares underwent 12 consecutive unchanged or falling trading sessions, standing around VND252,000 ($10.8) per share, a decrease of over 8.5% in the previous quarter.

After this transaction, major shareholders of  Sabeco are ThaiBev’s Vietnam Beverage, with 53.59% and Ministry of Industry and Trade holding 36% stakes.

Sabeco reported third quarter revenue of VND9,804 billion ($421 million), up more than 14% from a year ago. The beer firm recorded a net profit in the third quarter at VND1,459 billion ($62.6 million), up from VND1,035 billion ($44.4 million) over the same period last year.

Currently, Sabeco holds 40% of the domestic market share. In the nine-month period, Sabeco sold 4.4 billion liters of beer in the market. Thaibev plans to raise the market share to 45% and the ratio would be higher in 2021.

Vietnam is the third largest beer consuming country in Asia, after China and Japan. Beer sales in Vietnam have increased by 6.6% for six consecutive years, far exceeding the global increase of 0.2%. Beer accounts for 95% of total alcohol consumption in Vietnam, according to Euromonitor International, a market research firm.

► As of end-September, Sabeco pays totally $350 million tax, up 13%