Budweiser parent lost $170M profit from Coronavirus in first two months of 2020
The company houses Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona among its brands
The world's biggest brewer, Anheuser-Busch InBev SA said Thursday that it lost $170 million in profits during the first two months of 2020 because of the coronavirus epidemic as it reported a fall in net profit.
The company--which houses Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona among its brands--said it estimates the loss of revenue in the period is $285 million due to the Covid-19 epidemic and that it continues to monitor developments.
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The company made a net profit for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2019 of $114 million compared with $456 million for the comparable period last year.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUD | ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV | 60.27 | +0.10 | +0.17% |
Revenue for the quarter fell to $13.33 billion compared with $13.79 billion for the comparable period in 2018 and forecasts of $13.67 billion, taken from FactSet and based on 10 analysts' estimates.
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Normalized earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization--one of the company's preferred metrics which strips out exceptional and other one-off items--was $5.34 billion, compared with $6.02 billion and a forecast of $5.69 billion, taken from FactSet and based on seven analysts' forecasts.
The company said total beer volume rose 1.6 percent to 142 million hectoliters. In North America total beer volumes rose 2.8 percent, it said.
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The board has kept the final dividend at EUR1 a share, taking the total payout for the year to EUR1.80 .
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749