Ed oggi é arrivata la trimestrale di AB InBev, che continuo a seguire (sono uscito per non correre rischi legati alla trimestrale, convinto che anche tecnicamente i bond siano in posizione da poter stornare): le cose sono andate bene nel Q1/2008, con i cd. core earnings in salita del 10%; AB InBev ha fatto presente tuttavia che un simile risultato sarà difficilmente ripetibile nel corso dell'anno, sia per la risalita dei costi che per il raffronto con i forti risultati generati nel 2008.
Andrà anche tenuto d'occhio l'accordo per la vendita di Oriental Breweries a KKR, apparentemente soggetta ad una clausola di riacquisto da parte di AB Inbev "a termini finanziari già concordati" ma sui quali non è stata fatta disclosure al pubblico.
Il buon andamento del Q1/2009 si è tradotto in una crescita del EBITDA "core" (al netto di una tantum) da 2,53 a 2,79 mld $ (con il dato di raffronto per il 2008 ricavato dalla sommatoria dei risultati delle due società pre-merger).
In linea con i piani da AB InBev il taglio dei costi, stimato in misura definitiva in 2,25 mld $ annui, dei quali 1 mld $ da conseguire entro il 2009. Con 295 mln $ nel Q1/2009, la società è dunque ben messa per il conseguimento del target.
Il valore delle vendite risulta in calo da 8,85 mld $ a 8,2 mld $, ma ciò in conseguenza principalmente della svalutazione del BRL rispetto al USD, mentre al netto dell'andamento delle valute, il valore del venduto è aumentato del 4,7%
- MAY 7, 2009, 3:08 A.M. ET
2nd UPDATE: AB InBev 1Q Earnings Up; Sells Korean Brewer
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By Matthew Dalton Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
BRUSSELS (Dow Jones)--Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BT) Thursday reported a better-than-expected 10% rise in first-quarter core earnings but warned that rising costs and stronger results last year would make it difficult for the beer giant to repeat that performance through the rest of 2009.
AB InBev, the maker of Budweiser, Stella Artois and dozens of other brands, also said it would sell Oriental Brewery, its South Korean beer unit, to the U.S. private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for $1.8 billion to help pay down the debt it took on to buy Anheuser-Busch. The deal is the second-largest private-equity buyout announced this year, according to Dealogic.
The deal gives AB InBev the right to buy back Oriental Brewery within five years at "predetermined financial terms," which were not disclosed. AB InBev will book a one-time capital gain of $500 million from the sale, which will close in the third quarter, AB InBev said.
AB InBev's quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization - adjusted for one-time items - were $2.79 billion, up from $2.53 billion of adjusted Ebitda in the first quarter of 2008 on strong sales in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe.
Last year's quarterly core earnings result is a company estimate of what AB InBev's earnings would have been if they had included the results of U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch, which InBev purchased in November.
Analysts were expecting adjusted Ebitda of $2.5 billion for the quarter, according to a survey released by the company.
"Overall, beer is confirming to be a very resilient business, even in a downturn," AB InBev Chief Financial Officer Felipe Dutra told reporters.
But investors shouldn't expect similar Ebitda growth during the rest of the year, the company said. The brewer estimates a percentage increase in costs per unit of beer sold in the "low single digits" for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, the brewer's results last year were fairly strong, and the economic downturn will have some impact.
"The operating environment remains challenging," Dutra said.
AB InBev has promised to cut annual costs by $2.25 billion as a result of its purchase of Anheuser, with $1 billion of those cost cuts coming in 2009. The brewer achieved $295 million of cost cuts in the first quarter, putting it on track to meet its targets.
The company's adjusted profit for the quarter was $783 million and its profit including one-time items was $716 million. AB InBev didn't say what its quarterly adjusted profit would have been including Anheuser's results.
Sales were $8.2 billion for the quarter, down from $8.85 billion a year ago. The decline was mainly to due to a fall in the value of the Brazilian real versus the dollar, which hit sales by around $1 billion. Excluding these effects, sales rose 4.7%, AB InBev said.
Costs per unit of beer sold rose 2.5% for the quarter, AB InBev said, as the brewer continued to feel the impact of last year's soaring commodity prices. However, the company said its plans to capture efficiencies from the Anheuser deal were helping to keep costs down.
AB InBev shares are up about 45% for the year at EUR24, after they took a beating late in 2008 while the company issued new equity to help fund its $52 billion purchase of Anheuser.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) advised KKR on the Oriental Brewery deal, and J.P.Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Deutsche Bank AG (DB) and Lazard Ltd. (LAZ), advised AB InBev.