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Heineken’s gloomy outlook

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Heineken NV sent a shiver through Europe’s brewing industry yesterday with a warning that weak consumer sentiment and a damp summer would wipe out profit growth this year.The news from the world No 3 brewer, the most exposed of the big players to western Europe’s struggling economies, drove its shares down as much as 16 percent to a 21-month low and hit others in the sector.The Dutch group, which saw first half profits fall short of expectations, was the last of the world’s top four beer makers to report, but the picture it painted of economic uncertainty and unemployment driving Europeans and Americans away from bars and cafes was seen as a stark one for the food and drink sector.