Mexico makes growth happen
Between early April and late June 105.870 million hectolitre left the breweries of AB InBev, 1.2% less on a comparable basis than in the same period of last year. In absolute numbers there still was a growth of more than 4%, as the activities of Mexican Grupo Modelo were included as of 4 June.
In the region North America volumes dropped 1.8% to 32.369 million hectolitre. Especially in the US sales were influenced by bad weather conditions and by persisting pressure on the income of the consumer.
In Latin America the volume was 1.5% lower at 26.932 million hectolitre. Sales mainly decreased in Brazil, despite the influence of the Confederations Cup football. The biggest country of South America also witnessed a growing pressure on consumer income.
In most other regions people also seemed to drink less beer, even in the growth markets. In Western Europe the volume sold was 7% lower, in Central and Eastern Europe 6.1%. In Asia only China broke the trend with a growth of 5.1%.
Higher beer prices makes turnover rise
Still the turnover of AB Inbev increased by 3.9% to 10.587 billion dollar, just under 8 billion euro. The proceeds per hectolitre rose by 5.8% in the second quarter. AB InBev expects this higher price per hectolitre to remain for the rest of the year.
Incidentally, the rise in price was higher than the rise in costs. Those went up by 3.8% per hectolitre in the second quarter. This helped to increase net profits from 1.940 billion dollar (1.5 billion euro) to 7.485 billion dollar (5.6 billion euro). Those numbers show a distorted image, because of the fiscal revaluation of the investment in Grupo Modelo.
