AB InBev share price sinks on dividend cut
The brewer’s market value plunges R256bn after it cuts its interim dividend in half and prioritises repaying $109bn in debt
The world’s biggest beer brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) saw its shares plunge 10.59% on Thursday, the most since its inward listing on the JSE in January 2016, after cutting its interim dividend to pay off debt. The sell-off wiped off about R256bn of AB InBev’s market capitalisation, nearly equal to the market value of Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank. AB InBev said on Thursday it will cut its interim dividend in half in the third quarter as it prioritises repaying $109bn in debt, partly incurred as a result of its acquisition of SABMiller in 2016. The decision to reduce dividend payouts comes as the debt-laden owner of the Castle Lager, Hansa Pilsner and Redds brands says it is seeing "the volatility out there and wants to be proactive". With a big footprint in emerging markets, the weakening and volatility of emerging-market currencies have weighed on performance. Speaking to Bloomberg in an interview, CFO Felipe Dutra said it could always "accelerate the pace at which...
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