AB InBev 2Q Net Profit Misses Expectations as US Volumes Dive -- Update
August 03 2023 - 2:11AM
Dow Jones News
By Ian Walker
Anheuser-Busch InBev has reported a massive fall in
second-quarter net profit--missing market expectations--as a fall
in U.S. volumes offset rises in other regions.
The world's largest brewer--which houses Stella Artois and
Budweiser among its portfolio--said Thursday that overall volumes
fell 1.4%, matching expectations. Within this, North America
volumes fell 14.5%.
Sales in the region have been falling since April when Dylan
Mulvaney, a transgender social-media star, made an Instagram post
about a personalized can of Bud Light that the brewer had sent her
as a gift. The post sparked a boycott that caused sales of Bud
Light, and other brands, to fall.
Net profit for the quarter fell to $339 million compared with
$1.60 billion for the comparable period a year earlier and a
FactSet consensus of $613.35 million.
Revenue for the quarter rose to $15.12 billion from $14.79
billion, driven by pricing actions, premiumization--the strategy of
emphasizing luxury versions of its products--and other
revenue-management moves. Revenue consensus was $15.38 billion.
On an organic basis, revenue grew 7.2%, beating a
company-provided market consensus of 6.4%.
In the U.S., sales to retailers fell 14.0%, underperforming the
industry, mainly due to lower Bud Light volumes.
Late last month the company laid off hundreds of workers at its
U.S. offices after months of slumping sales at Bud Light. It said
the cuts would affect less than 2% of its roughly 18,000 U.S.
workforce. The layoffs won't impact front-line workers such as
brewery and warehouse staff, the company added.
Normalized earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortization--one of the company's preferred metrics which strips
out exceptional and other one-off items--fell to $4.91 billion from
$5.10 billion and compares with a consensus of $4.845 billion.
Looking ahead, AB InBev reiterated that it expects 2023 Ebitda
to grow in line with its medium-term outlook of between 4% and 8%
and revenue to grow ahead of Ebitda from a healthy combination of
volume and price.
Earlier this week Heineken cut its full-year outlook after
reporting a fall in key earnings for the first half, largely due to
lower volumes in the profitable Asia-Pacific region.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 03, 2023 01:56 ET (05:56 GMT)
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