7 May 2009
Volume performance: Total 1Q09 volumes increased 0.9%, with own beer volumes up 0.5%, led by a 3.5% increase in Focus Brands with strong performances from Brahma, Skol, Bud Light, and Harbin. Soft drinks volumes grew 5.8%
Market share gains: YTD, we gained market share in seven of our key markets, namely Argentina, Belgium, Germany, UK, US, South Korea, and Ukraine
Revenue Growth: Revenues grew 4.7% led by Latin America North up 10.4%; Central and Eastern Europe up 11% and Latin America South up 21.1%. Revenue per hl* grew 5.9%, as a result of effective revenue management and continued focus on premium brands, despite difficult economic conditions
Cost of Sales (CoS): Overall CoS for 1Q09 decreased 0.2%, but CoS per hl* increased 2.5%. Although CoS remain under pressure, best practices and brewery productivity enhancements offset some of the general inflation
Operating expenses under control: Operating expenses declined 6.5% as our synergy program in the U.S. gained traction
EBITDA: Normalized EBITDA for 1Q09 of 2 786 million USD grew 25.9%, and normalized EBITDA margin for 1Q09 was 34.0% compared to 28.6% in 1Q08, up 577bp on an organic basis, i.e. after eliminating the effects of currency translation and scope changes. All operating Zones delivered organic EBITDA margin expansion, led by North America where margins increased from pro forma 29.9% to 37.3%. The remaining quarters of the year should not show similar organic EBITDA growth due to more difficult comparisons
Profit: Normalized profit attributable to equity holders of AB InBev came in at 783 million USD, compared to 398 million USD in 1Q08 on a reported basis
Cash flow: benefited from 25.9% normalized EBITDA growth and improved capital expenditure discipline. Cash flow available for debt pay down approximated 1.1 billion USD, which coupled with successful bond issuances, provides significant financial flexibility
Disposals: we announced today, in a separate press release, that we have entered into an agreement with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR) for the sale of our South Korean beer business for 1.8 billion USD (equivalent to approximately 2.3 trillion KRW converted at the current spot rate of 1272.6)