Dutch brewing giant Heineken plans to cut personnel costs at its Amsterdam headquarters and regional country offices by 20% in the first quarter of next year, meaning hundreds of jobs are likely to go.

Some 1,700 people currently work at Heineken HQ and in regional offices such as Singapore, but the company does not yet know how many redundancies are likely to be needed.

The company said earlier it would not implement any restructuring in 2020 because of coronavirus.

Heineken has had a difficult year, as lockdowns close cafes and bars – a market with high margins. Some countries, including the Netherlands, have placed restrictions on the sale of alcohol, or banned it altogether.

Sales in the first nine months of the year are down 8.1%, and net profit has tumbled from €1.7bn to €396m, the company said. The company said in a trading update it will not give a forecast for the final quarter of the year, given the current volatility.