Heineken boss resigns after ‘turbulent’ six-year stint

The chief executive of Dutch brewer Heineken unexpectedly announced his resignation Monday, as the company grapples with lower beer sales and job cuts in a difficult economic environment.

Dolf van den Brink said he would step down on May 31, Heineken said in a statement, after almost six years at the helm “during which he has guided the company through turbulent economic and political times”.

“I believe this is the right moment,” said Van den Brink, 52.

The change of leader comes at a tricky moment for Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer after AB InBev.

Its most recent quarterly results, published in October, showed a steep decline in the amount of beer sold, with Europe and the United States driving the drop.

Van den Brink acknowledged at the time that the firm was dealing with a “challenging environment, resulting in a mixed performance”.

Heineken posted total net sales of 7.3 billion euros ($8.5 billion) for the third quarter, down from 7.6 billion in the second quarter.

Earlier in October, Heineken said it was cutting or reassigning 400 jobs as part of a reorganisation of its Amsterdam head office to take advantage of new technologies.

On Monday, shares in the company were down more than four percent on the Amsterdam stock exchange, which was flat overall.

The Heineken board said it would start the search process to appoint a successor.

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