Belgian brewery group Duvel Moortgat sees sales stagnate and profits take a dive as sales of beers like Duvel, La Chouffe and Vedett are under pressure. The company admits that improvement is not expected soon.
Slowing down
In 2023, Duvel Moortgat’s sales grew barely 1 % to 589 million euros, despite significant price increases. Operating profit fell almost 20 % to 80.7 million euro, while net profit went down 25 % to 54.4 million euro. The figures come from the company’s recently published financial statements, Belgian newspaper De Tijd reports.
The company gives no further comment to the newspaper, but in its report it shows pessimism about the current fiscal year: “We anticipate slowing growth in all markets worldwide in the first half.”
The bad weather in recent months has helped beer sales in the slightest, while high inflation is also having an impact. Sales of Belgian beers fell 5.8 % last year, while exports fell 7.5 %. 36 smaller breweries quit last year.