BELGIUM: AB InBev earnings miss estimates on weakness in US and Brazil | Progresiv
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, reported second-quarter profit growth that missed analyst estimates on worse-than-expected beer sales in Brazil, the U.S. and China. 
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose 4.6% on an organic basis to 4.16 billion dollars, the Leuven, Belgium-based maker of Stella Artois said in a statement. That lagged behind the median estimate of 17 analysts for 8% growth.
Faced with declining popularity of its flagship Bud and Bud Light brands, AB InBev is looking elsewhere for growth with different beer styles, new packaging like recloseable aluminum bottles and acquisitions of fast-growing American craft brews such as Elysian and 10 Barrel. The company is also grappling with weakening consumer sentiment in Brazil, its second-biggest market, which benefited from hosting soccer’s World Cup last year.
The results were “a fairly sizeable miss on the organic lines,” Eamonn Ferry, an analyst at Exane BNP Paribas, wrote in a note to investors.
AB InBev said it expects revenue growth to accelerate in the second half of the year.
The volume of drinks sold fell 2.2% in the period, below analysts’ expectations for a 0.2% dip. The biggest falloff came in Brazil, where beer shipments declined 8.6%, with more than half of that decline due to lapping the one-time boost from the World Cup. Economic conditions were also “unfavourable,” the company said. Profit margins there widened as the company spent less on marketing this year. (www.esmmagazine.com)
