Lower profit for AB InBev despite record sales

Price increases propelled AB InBev sales to a record high last year, but volumes are under pressure. As the brewer gauges the damage from anti-woke activism in the United States, CEO Michel Doukeris is cautiously positive.

Problems in the US

The Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois producer saw sales rise 7.8 % to 59.38 billion dollars (54.8 billion euros) in 2023. The growth fully came from price increases, as the volume sold fell 1.7 % to 584.73 million hectolitres. Of that, almost 506 million hectolitres was beer – the multinational also sells other drinks (such as cocktails and hard seltzers) as part of its ‘Beyond Beer’ strategy.

Net profit fell from 5.97 to 5.34 billion dollars (4.9 billion euros) as ‘Trumpian’ consumers maintained their boycott following a marketing campaign for Bud Light featuring a transgender influencer. The brand is only very slowly recovering from the resulting crashing sales. There was also a big impact from the devaluation of the Argentine peso. Strong growth in the important Mexican market could not compensate for that loss.

A cautiously optimistic Doukeris said he expects operating profit to rise 4 to 8 % this year, with volumes also picking up. He is therefore raising the dividend slightly.