Brewing Giant InBev Boosts Profit, Despite Market Pressure
August 14, 2008
The Belgian-Brazilian brewing behemoth, which aims to grow even bigger by swallowing up its American competitor Anheuser-Busch sometime this year, surprised analysts.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, InBev said second-quarter net earnings were up 8.6 percent, to 542 million euros ($806 million) despite cost increases. Analysts had expected a drop in earnings.
"While we are far from satisfied with our performance year to date, the second-quarter results already show an improvement versus our first quarter," the company said in a statement.
"This performance is in line with expectations."
Stumbling block in Russia
InBev CEO Carlos Brito said the main market where the company had underperformed was Russia. "Our value and price brands have lost share at a faster pace than we have beeen gaining share with our core and premium brands," he told reporters.
Sales also showed some weakness in Brazil, another key market. But elsewhere in North and Latin America and the Asia-Pacific, "results were positive," he said.