Sector movers: Beverage stocks slip after Heineken sales fall

22nd Oct 2014 13:45

UK beverage stocks were slightly lower on Wednesday after a gloomy update from Dutch brewing giant Heineken which blamed recent bad weather in Europe for a drop in third-quarter sales.Heineken, famous for its eponymous brand and other drinks such as Strongbow, John Smith's and Kronenbourg, unveiled a worse-than-expected 1.5% fall in sales to €5.1bn as rain kept drinkers out of Europe's beer gardens.However, sales improved more markedly in its Asia Pacific, African and Middle East and Americas markets. Nevertheless, Heineken's shares were 0.7% lower in Amsterdam.London-listed brewer SABMiller, which owns the Peroni and Grolsch brands of beer, was down 0.4% in afternoon trade.SAB had its takeover offer for Heineken rejected last month after the Dutch group deemed the proposal "non-actionable".Meanwhile, SAB itself has been at the centre of takeover speculation over recent months amid rumours that larger Belgian-Brazilian rival Anheuser-Busch Inbev could be considering a merger of the world's two-largest brewers.The UK firm revealed last month that net producer revenue growth on a constant-currency basis slowed to just 3% in the second quarter, from 6% in the first.Guinness and Smirnoff maker Diageo also fell 0.7% on Wednesday, joined in the red by smaller peer C&C Group, the Ireland-based firm responsible for the Magners, Bulmers and Blackthorn brands of cider, which declined 0.3%.Top performing sectors so far todayChemicals 9,714.80 +2.36%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,019.59 +1.87%Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 12,096.09 +1.85%Financial Services 7,691.98 +1.75%Insurance (non-life) 1,862.06 +1.66%Bottom performing sectors so far todayTobacco 38,100.84 -2.72%Food & Drug Retailers 2,594.51 -1.59%Automobiles & Parts 7,280.74 -0.51%Beverages 13,766.07 -0.49%Mining 15,640.57 -0.40%