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Thursday, November 06, 2008

Anheuser-Busch Profit Falls 5.7% on Charges

Kathryn Buschman Vasel

FOXBusiness

Anheuser-Busch (BUD) reported its third-quarter profit fell flat due to charges from its looming sale to InBev, SA (INB) who also reported earnings Thursday.

The St. Louis-based brewer said its net income fell 5.7% to $666 million, or 90 cents a share, compared to $707 million, or 95 cents a share in 2007.

Net sales increased 6.6%, to $4.92 billion, from $4.62 billion last year. According to Thomas/Reuters, analysts were expecting the company to earn $1.04 a share.

The company raised prices for 85% of U.S. beer sales to help offset the rising cost of commodities.

The recently-introduced Bud Light Lime beer along with other varieties helped boost sales, according to August Busch IV, president and chief executive.

“The Bud Light brand and super-premium Michelob Ultra family also made important contributions to growth, as did recent new products like Chelada and Landshark,” he said in a statement.

U.S. beer shipments to wholesalers inched up 2.3% in the quarter and sales to retailers were up 3.6%.

AB accepted a $52 billion takeover offer from Belgian brewer InBev in June and shareholders are set to vote on the merger Nov. 12.

In a conference call Thursday, InBev Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra said the merger is on track to close by the end of the year.

The maker of Stella Artois and Beck's reported its third-quarter profits fell 14% due to one-time charges. It also weighed in with a net profit fell of $ 577.4 million, with revenue increasing 4.5%.

InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Bush should bump SABMiller from the No. 1 brewer spot.

Sure, we know some of you are saying the term "marriage penalty" is redundant. In fact, of all the costs associated with getting married (have you seen the cost of a wedding cake lately?), the marriage penalty can be the worst.

Here's how it works: Mr. and Mrs. Right walk down the aisle in wedded bliss and suddenly they¿re a two-income household. If both make roughly the same amount of money, they can be pushed into a higher tax bracket. That's bad, since the higher the bracket, the higher the tax. So, if both were single, they'd end up writing two smaller checks to the tax man that, if combined, would add up to less than the giant check they write in a state of wedded bliss.

Is that fair? We're not touching that, but there is a flip side that few people talk about. The marriage penalty only kicks in if both members of the couple make close to the same amount of money. If there's a big disparity in pay, there's actually a tax advantage. Call it the marriage bonus.

And, it¿s important to remember that there are other financial benefits, such as lower life-insurance rates or health care premiums, that can make up for the extra tax couples pay. So don't let Uncle Sam stop you from saying, "I do."