Yangtze River Business Daily reporter Pan Ruidong
Harbin Beer has recently become a hot topic among netizens because of an evaluation, and Harbin Beer's response has also made netizens question.
A few days ago, the monthly magazine "Choice" of the Hong Kong Consumer Council conducted a beer evaluation and detected the presence of deoxynivalenol (also known as vomitoxin, hereinafter referred to as "DON") in Harbin McDonnell Douglas beer, with a detection level of 26 micrograms per kilogram.
In response, the Harbin McDonnell Douglas beer manufacturer responded that the product had only been produced and sold in the mainland, and had never exported and sold the tested product to Hong Kong, and the production and sales process of the product complied with the relevant laws and regulations of the mainland.
It should be noted that the Harbin beer brand has been replaced by Budweiser APAC (01876. AB InBev Brewing Company (APAC) Limited is the controlling shareholder of AB InBev Brewing Company (APAC) Limited, which is headquartered in Belgium.
According to Flush data, from 2019 to 2023, the company's profit attributable to shareholders (referred to as "net profit") changed year-on-year to -6.26%, -42.76%, 84.82%, -3.89%, and -6.68%, showing a fluctuating trend of "four declines and one rise".
The inspected Harbin Beer Douglas was only sold in the Mainland
According to the beer evaluation published by CHOICE, a monthly magazine of the Consumer Council of Hong Kong, Harbin McDonnell Douglas beer was found to contain DON at a level of 26 micrograms per kilogram, while mycotoxins were not detected in the other samples.
According to the review article, the Harbin McDonnell Douglas brewery responded that the company had never exported and sold the tested products to Hong Kong. The product has only been manufactured and sold in the Mainland, and the entire production and sales process of the product has complied with the relevant laws and regulations of the Mainland.
Budweiser APAC subsequently stated that the Harbin Beer Wheat Trail sample referred to in the test report of the Hong Kong Consumer Council contained DON, and its test content was far lower than the Chinese national standard (cereals and their products) (1000μg/kg, i.e. 1ppm), and far below the relevant upper limit standard of international authoritative food safety agencies (less than 1ppm, i.e. 1000μg/kg).
It is understood that DON is a common mycotoxin, mostly in low temperature, humidity and harvest season, slowly grown in cereal crops, generally in barley, wheat, corn, oats in higher concentrations, in rye, sorghum, rice concentration.
The review article also reminds consumers that the intake level is designed to protect public health, especially if long-term or large intake of DON may have adverse health effects. DON may cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and even fever within 30 minutes of ingestion, similar to those of other gastrointestinal disorders. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies certain Fusarium-derived toxins (including DON) as Group 3 substances, i.e. they are not known to be carcinogenic to humans.
On April 20, a reporter from the Yangtze River Business Daily inquired on Taobao, Jingdong, Pinduoduo and other e-commerce platforms and found that there was no Harbin McDonnell Douglas beer sold in the official flagship store, and only some third-party stores were still selling this product.
Budweiser APAC's net profit growth rate is not as fast as that of its Chinese peers
After listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Budweiser APAC's performance fluctuated greatly.
According to Budweiser APAC's official website, Harbin Beer was born in 1900 and has been exported to more than 30 countries and regions around the world, as the earliest beer in China. Although named after a Chinese city, Harbin Beer was acquired by Budweiser APAC as early as 2004 and became a foreign-owned holding company.
In 2019, Budweiser APAC was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with more than 50 beer brands, including Budweiser, Times, Corona, Fujia, Kaishi and Harbin. In 2018, before listing, the company's operating income was US$6.74 billion, a year-on-year increase of 10.51%, and the profit attributable to shareholders was US$958 million, a year-on-year increase of 66.9%.
In 2019 and 2020, Budweiser APAC ushered in two consecutive years of decline in revenue and net profit. According to Flush data, the company's revenue was US$6.546 billion and US$5.588 billion, down 2.88% and 14.63% year-on-year, and the profit attributable to shareholders was US$898 million and US$514 million, down 6.26% and 42.76% year-on-year. As for the widening of the decline in 2020, Budweiser APAC believes that the catering channel was affected by the epidemic, and the company's beer sales decreased as a result, among which, Budweiser APAC's sales in the Chinese market decreased by 10% year-on-year, full-year revenue decreased by 11%, and normalized EBITDA decreased by 20.1% year-on-year.
Against the backdrop of declining performance for two consecutive years, in 2021, Budweiser APAC ushered in a performance rebound on the basis of a low base. According to the data, in the current period, the company achieved operating income of US$6.788 billion, slightly higher than the pre-IPO level in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 21.47%, and profit attributable to shareholders of US$950 million, slightly worse than the level of 2018 by US$0.08 billion, a year-on-year increase of 84.82%. Budweiser APAC believes that the increase in performance is mainly due to the subsidence of the impact of the epidemic, the increase in Budweiser APAC beer sales, and the increase in revenue per hectoliter due to its premiumization strategy.
A year after the surge, Budweiser APAC fell into the dilemma of double decline in performance. In 2022, the company's operating income and profit attributable to shareholders will be US$6.478 billion and US$913 million, respectively, with year-on-year changes of -4.57% and -3.89%.
On March 22, 2024, Budweiser APAC released its 2023 annual report, which showed that the company began to "increase revenue without increasing profits". Last year, Budweiser APAC achieved operating income of US$6.856 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, and profit attributable to shareholders of US$852 million, a year-on-year decrease of 6.68%. As for the sequential decline in net profit, the company explained that it was mainly affected by the non-basic tariff provision in South Korea.
In fact, compared with Tsingtao Beer and Chongqing Beer, Budweiser APAC's performance is also under significant pressure, with the performance of the first two achieving double growth from 2022 to 2023, among which Tsingtao Beer's net profit attributable to the parent company has a growth rate of 15.02%, and the trend of high-end is effective. Even China Resources Beer, which is also listed on the Hong Kong stock market, will also achieve a double increase in performance in 2023 after increasing revenue but not profits in 2022, with the growth rate of revenue and net profit attributable to the parent company of China Resources Beer last year being 10.4% and 18.62% respectively. In other words, Budweiser APAC's net profit growth rate in the last two years has not been as fast as that of its Chinese peers.
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