AB InBev 2Q Hit By Impairment Charge Against African Business

By Ian Walker

Anheuser-Busch InBev SA on Thursday reported a fall in second-quarter net profit--missing analysts' forecasts--as it booked an impairment charge against its African business, but said the fundamental strengths of the company remain unchanged.

The world's largest brewer--with brands such as Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona--said volumes fell 17.1% in the second quarter.

For the quarter ended June 30, AB InBev made a net profit of $351 million compared with a profit of $2.48 billion a year earlier and a consensus of $1.14 billion taken from FactSet and based on five analysts' forecasts. It booked a $2.5 billion non-cash impairment charge, which is partially offset by a $1.9 billion profit on the sale of its Australian operations.

Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization--one of the company's preferred metrics which strips out exceptional and other one-off items--was $3.41 billion compared with $5.64 billion for the second quarter of 2019 and a consensus of $3.15 billion, taken from FactSet and based on six analysts' forecasts.

Revenue for the quarter was $10.29 billion, down from $13.60 billion and forecasts of $9.57 billion, taken from FactSet and based on 10 analysts' estimates.

No dividend has been declared. On April 14, the company halved its final dividend for 2019 to 50 European cents (54 U.S. cents) because of the uncertainty and volatility caused by the new coronavirus.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2020 01:36 ET (05:36 GMT)

Anheuser Busch Inbev SA NV (NYSE:BUD)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024