InBev boosted by booming sales in Brazil

Booming beer sales in Brazil have helped Anheuser-Busch InBev to report a 5.1 per cent increase in first-quarter core earnings.

The world’s largest brewer said that it made $3.09 billion (£2 billion) in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) for January to March, with sales driven by a 15.9 per cent increase in total sales of beer and soft drinks in Brazil.

Anheuser-Busch InBev, which owns the Stella Artois, Becks and Budweiser brands, outperformed the UK beer market in the first quarter, shifting 1.3 per cent more beer by volume in the first quarter, despite a 3.5 per cent decline across the industry and increases in beer duty.

Shares in the Belgium-based brewer were up 4.1 per cent to €37.30.

The brewer said that it expected World Cup marketing spend to hit its second-quarter profits as its Budweiser brand is an official sponsor of the tournament.

Meanwhile, JD Wetherspoon suffered an 8 per cent fall in its share price this morning after it reported a 0.8 per cent decline in like-for-like sales for the three months to April 25.

The chain, which has 767 pubs across the country after opening 26 new pubs this year and closing two, said that margins remained resilient in the third quarter.

Total sales at Wetherspoons rose 3.6 per cent, compared with a 4 per cent rise for the year to date.

“The performance of our pubs which opened within the last two years is encouraging; we continue to believe there are substantial opportunities for us to acquire sites at reasonable prices,” the group said.

“We therefore remain confident about the company’s prospects for this financial year. However, we now feel slightly more cautious about the outlook for the next financial year, as a result of the annualised effect of recent tax and duty increases, and higher interest charges, combined with the risk of more subdued consumer expenditure.”