Beer giant AB InBev sees profit double

AB InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, said Thursday that year-on-year net profits had doubled in the second quarter as sales soared past their pre-pandemic levels.

The Belgian-Brazilian group, which includes the Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona brands, said net profits jumped to $1.9 billion (1.6 billion euros).

Sales hit $13.5 billion, up over 27 percent on the period from April to June last year.

The company said it had “continued its momentum” after seeing business post a strong recovery towards the end of last year.

“We delivered top-line growth of 3.2 percent versus 2Q 2019, even in the context of ongoing impacts related to Covid-19,” a statement said.

Beer consumption plummeted last year as lockdown measures were imposed throughout the world to contain the coronavirus.

AB InBev’s overall net profit slumped by half in 2020 to $3.8 billion, with the second quarter profit standing at $921 million.

Successful vaccine drives since the end of last year have seen bars and pubs in key markets open back up, but there are fears that the spread of more infectious coronavirus variants could lead to reverses.

In a move that could help mitigate future volatility, AB InBev says it has been focusing on “digitising” its relations with customers and that in the first half of 2021 doubled their impact compared to last year.

aro/del/rl