CLSA has released a research report indicating that China Resources Beer (00291) recorded first-half revenue of RMB 24.24 billion, up 1.2% year-on-year, which came in roughly 1% below both the firm's and the market's projections.

Net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 5.169 billion, marking a 10.7% year-on-year decline, falling 5% and 11% short of the brokerage's and consensus estimates, respectively.

The report highlights that the beer segment's revenue and gross margin trajectory broadly aligned with expectations after stripping out one-off items. Beer revenue totaled RMB 23.67 billion, up 2.2% year-on-year, matching forecasts. Beer sales volume increased 1.7% year-on-year, with sales of the premium-and-above tier surging over 10% and Heineken volume jumping 20% annually. Average selling prices for beer inched up 0.4% year-on-year.

The baijiu business emerged as the primary drag, generating RMB 570 million in revenue during the period, a 27% year-on-year slump, while recording an EBIT loss of RMB 281 million. Overall gross margin contracted 1.2 percentage points year-on-year to 47.7%, with the selling and administrative expense ratio improving 0.9 percentage points to 22.3%. Core net profit declined 4.5% year-on-year to RMB 5.109 billion.