Anheuser-Busch InBev reported higher-than-expected second-quarter earnings and held its 2023 forecast on Thursday as a post-Covid-19 recovery in China and strength elsewhere offset the impact of a backlash against Bud Light in the United States.
The world's largest brewer, which makes around a quarter of all beer drunk globally, said volumes fell 1.4 per cent despite growth in most markets. Average prices were up 9.0 per cent year-on-year due to price hikes and as consumers shifted to more expensive drinks.
In China, AB InBev sold 11 per cent more beer by volume and over 20 per cent more higher-priced "premium" beers, pushing revenue and profit there above pre-pandemic levels.
The maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona said revenue and profits were also higher in major markets Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Europe as a whole.
The opposite was the case in the United States, normally the company's biggest market, where Bud Light lost its top spot to Constellation Brands' Modelo Especial following a conservative backlash over a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Bud Light US sales through retail stores have fallen by at least 25 per cent, but the company said they had now stabilised, with a survey showing about 80 per cent of consumers favourable or neutral towards the brand.
AB InBev said its core profit (EBITDA) for the April-June period rose 5.0 per cent year-on-year on a like-for-like basis to $4.91 billion, against expectations of a 0.4 per cent increase in a company-compiled poll.
The Belgium-based company maintained its 2023 forecast that EBITDA would grow in line with its medium-term outlook of between 4 per cent and 8 per cent, with revenue growing ahead of EBITDA.