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(Courtesy AB InBev)
The world’s largest brewer just released its second quarter results. And there was both cause for celebration as well as for some concern…
Here’s what we’ve learned…
Overall it was a spectacular quarter for the Belgian-based brewing giant. Benefitting from an Easter holiday which fell into the second quarter this year, Anheuser-Busch InBev showed its strongest growth for this period in five years.
And in most major markets, sales and margins expanded to differing degrees.
AB InBev reported that its beer volumes rose in key markets that included Mexico, Brazil, Europe, South Africa, Nigeria, Australia and Colombia…
However, its US volume sales declined by 2.4% after the brewer implemented price on its products hikes in April, which had originally been planned to take effect in October.
And as Today noted “in Brazil, its number two market, aluminum and barley costs and the devaluation of the real currency also cut into profit.
(Courtesy AB InBev)
Overall, its global brand’s revenues rose by 8.0%, and performed better out of their home markets. As the Drinks Business reports “Budweiser, for example, grew by 5.6% outside of the US, while Corona was up 23.7% outside of Mexico.”
The brewer agreed to sell its Australian subsidiary Carlton & United Breweries to Japanese drinks giant Asahi earlier this month in a deal worth AU$16 billion. AB InBev said that it expects the handover to be completed by the first quarter 2020 with the proceeds from the deal going towards paying off the substantial debt it incurred from acquiring SABMiller in 2016.
The global brewing giant also decided not to go ahead with a planned US$9.8 billion initial public offering of its Asian business on 12 July. And the Asian IPO, which was expected to be one of the 2019’s largest public offerings, remains in limbo according to Ab InBev Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra…
“The past two weeks confirm we remain disciplined,” he told a conference call. “We retain the potential IPO as an option and we will continue to monitor the markets … but there is no assurance that an IPO will ever materialize.”
Banner image credit: AB InBev
