FIRST QUARTER
Profit at AB InBev gets welcome fizz
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, reports higher than expected profit growth
The world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), has reported higher than expected profit growth in the first quarter and says there are signs of a turnaround in Brazil, its second-biggest market, after a two-year slump. Beer volumes finally picked up in Brazil in January to March, the brewer said on Thursday, although it had not fully passed on the cost of 2016 tax increases to consumers and sales costs rose due to a near 40% decline in the real against the dollar. The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona, which produces more than a quarter of the world’s beer, said it expected cost of sales per hectolitre in Brazil to fall later in 2017. Half of its sales costs in Brazil are dollar-denominated. "We remain cautiously optimistic on Brazil overall. We expect 2017 to be better industry-wise than 2016," chief financial officer Felipe Dutra said on a conference call. Dutra recognised that the US beer market, the company’s largest, had also performed below expectation...
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