BUD saw its third-quarter profit drop nearly 6 percent because of charges related to its pending sale to InBev, but revenue rose as it raised prices on the majority of its brands and gained market share. In the U.S., the volume of beer shipped rose 2.3 percent in the quarter, while domestic sales rose 6.6 percent. Revenue rose too as the nation's largest brewer raised prices on the majority of its U.S. products starting in September.
Anheuser-Busch reported net income rose 1.8% to $689 million as the company hiked beer prices and gained traction with new products such as Bud Light Lime, Bud Chelada and Landshark Lager.
Anheuser-Busch agrees to be acquired by Belgium/Brazil based InBev for $70 a share, creating a global powerhouse.
Bud surges on speculation that InBev, the world's largest brewer, is close to making a bid for the company. The combination would create a company that distributes one-fourth of the world's beer and allow InBev to expand in the U.S., where Anheuser-Busch controls almost half the market.
BUD reported first quarter earnings about 1% below the year before period. The beer giant reported net income of $510.9 million, or 71 cents as share, compared with $517.5 million, or 67 cents a share, a year earlier.[slideshow_cheatsheet.gif]See earnings cheat sheets for large tech, health, banking and other companies. Gross sales rose 5.7% to $4.65 billion while net sales, which exclude excise taxes, climbed 6.2% to $4.1 billion.
Weak earnings and economic concerns scare BUD investors. Although earnings grew 12% as sales rose almost 8%, BUD misses analyst estimates. This can be partly attributed to lower exports from Mexico's Modelo which produces corona, the sixth most popular beer in the US.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. (NYSE: BUD) today reported that third quarter 2007 net sales increased 7.9 percent and diluted earnings per share increased 15.9 percent. For the nine months of 2007, net sales increased 5.7 percent and diluted earnings per share improved 9.3 percent.
BUD ends production of its Spykes alcoholic energy drink, which critics had complained intentionally targeted underage drinkers and posed dangers by giving consumers the sense of feeling alert while actually impaired.
Shares slip on news that BUD had missed quarterly profit expectations, earning $0.64/share compared to analysts' estimates of $0.69.
