During the third quarter, AB InBev has sold significantly more beer than analysts had expected. As a result, the group is raising its profit forecast for the full year 2021.
Higher volumes and prices
During the summer months, total volumes increased by 3.4 %, with non-beer volumes even growing by 7.8 %. Analysts had expected a slight decrease of 0.1 %, Belgian newspaper De Tijd reports.
AB InBev not only sold more in volume, but it did so while raising prices. As a result, quarterly revenue increased organically by 7.9 % to 14.3 billion dollars (12.3 billion euro). Revenue per hectolitre increased by 4.3 %.
Gross operating profit rose by 3 % to 5.2 billion dollars (4.5 billion euros), whereas a decrease of 2 % was expected. The brewer succeeded in this despite facing unfavourable currency fluctuations and higher costs in the supply chain and for raw materials in certain markets.
Forecast
“During the third quarter, our volume and revenue growth exceeded both 2020 and 2019 pre-pandemic levels thanks to the consistent execution of our strategy, investment in our brands and accelerated digital transformation”, said CEO Michel Doukeris, reflecting on the results.
The chief executive also announced to raise the lower limit of the profit expectation to 10 %. Until now, the beer giant had been assuming EBITDA growth of 8 to 12 % for the full year.
