South African Breweries has announced its total full-year volumes for its parent, Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), after beer market share moved ahead of pre-pandemic levels.
SAB is the local unit of global brewing giant AB InBev and announced on Thursday that focused commercial investment helped drive its performance.
Fin24 has it that consistency in executing its strategy for increasing the brand power of its “beer and beyond beer portfolios” had helped drive South African performance.
Top local brand Carling Black Label “grew by mid-teens,” while AB InBev also flagged Flying Fish, and Brutal Fruit as top local performers with these alcohol brands all reporting double-digit revenue growth on a full-year basis.
“But the fourth quarter of 2022 brought some headwinds for its South African operations due to production constraints at its Prospecton brewery, caused by floods in KwaZulu-Natal, which limited its ability to meet demand in the peak season,” reported the website.
“Revenue grew by mid-single digits, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) declined by single digits “due primarily to commodity cost headwinds”.
As for its SA business, the group said momentum continued into the financial year 2022, delivering – according to its estimates – “all-time high total volumes, with beer market share ahead of [the financial year 2019] pre-pandemic levels”.
The beermaker’s global Beyond Beer business contributed about $1.6 billion (R29.1 billion) of revenue and grew by low-single digits, as global growth was partially offset by a soft malt-based seltzer industry in the US.
However, in South Africa, Brutal Fruit and Flying Fish delivered 18% revenue growth.
At the same time, AB InBev’s shares on the JSE fell nearly 4% on Thursday as the market digested the news, with FNB portfolio manager Wayne McCurrie saying this was surprising, as the group did “not “look particularly expensive” and the “results were okay”.
McCurrie added that the South African portfolio had done really well for AB InBev but said it was important to bear in mind that “in the bigger scheme” it was a “very small market” for AB InBev.
