WC is absolute beer summit
Admittedly, AB InBev took advantage of a purchase (South Korean Oriental Brewery early this year) and the synergy of previous purchases (like the Mexican Grupo Modelo, known for Corona). The numbers are excellent nonetheless: thanks to the world championship, a lot of beer got consumed, not in the least beer from the Belgian-Brazilian-American beer giant.
AB InBev sold 119 hectoliters of beer in the previous quarter, a 12 % increase compared to the same period last year. In Brazil alone, it added 1.4 million hectoliters (+ 7.6 %), which are 420 million beers. Other countries followed suit: + 13.5 % in Great Britain, + 9.3 % in Belgium, + 4.6 % in China, + 3.2 % in Germany and + 1.5 % in Mexico.
Second quarter even better than expected
Only in Argentina, heavily hit by the crisis, AB InBev had to deal with lower sales (- 8.9 %) and even the lost final did not push Argentinians to drink more beer. The United States also suffered a drop (- 3.4 %) as Budweiser and Bud Light lose market share year after year.
The volume growth has pushed AB InBev’s numbers beyond analyst expectations. Turnover grew to 12.2 billion dollars, 200 million dollars more than what analysts had expected. EBITDA company profit grew to 4.85 billion dollars, while 4.53 billion was expected. Group profit reached 2.6 billion dollars, while analysts had hoped for 2.18 billion dollars.
