Beer brewer AB InBev failed to live up to expectations in its third quarter. Analysts had expected a small volume increase, but the Belgian-Brazilian company had to accept a loss.
Budweiser loses market share
AB InBev’s third quarter’s volume sales dropped 1.2 % and even 1.5 % for its own beers. Culprits were the United States and Brazil, cancelling growth in Mexico, Argentina and Africa. Brazilian and American volumes dropped 4 and 6 % respectively, mainly because of the quarter’s bad weather.
This is also reflected in the American Budweiser’s performance, with a 2.2 % total turnover drop compared to a non-American 4.4 % turnover increase. Both Budweiser and Bud Light lost market share in the United States. Stella Artois gained 0.9 % worldwide.
Smooth integration
Despite these lower volumes, AB InBev’s third quarter turnover grew 3.6 % to 14.74 billion dollars (12.5 billion euro), even though that was also below expectations. EBITDA grew 13.8 % to 5.73 billion dollars (4.9 billion euro), also below the forecast of 5.76 billion dollars.
SAB Miller’s integration, currently a year after its acquisition, is going smoothly. The company expects to save another 400 million dollars in costs by October 2020, with the number now at 3.2 billion dollars (2.7 billion euro). Currently, the synergy is already beyond half that number.
