AB InBev expects stronger profit in 2019 by selling more beer
The brewer is seeking to bring developed-world consumers back to beer from wine and spirits through a wider range of premium lagers
Brussels — Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world's largest beer maker, forecast strong revenue and profit growth in 2019, with a focus on increasing beer sales rather than just prices, after higher than expected underlying earnings at the end of 2018. The brewer of Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, like its major rivals, is seeking to bring developed-world consumers back to beer from wine and spirits through a wider range of premium lagers and entice emerging market drinkers with affordable beers. The company gave no numerical target for earnings growth in 2019, but said revenue per hectolitre should increase by more than inflation due to consumers trading up to premium beers as well as price rises. Costs would grow at a slower pace. AB InBev said it wanted top-line growth to be more balanced between revenue per hectolitre and volumes. Rival Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer, forecast earlier in February that its operating profit would increase by a mid single-digi...
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