AB InBev sets first profit growth target under new chief

Reuters

Published Dec 06, 2021 03:34AM ET

Updated Dec 06, 2021 11:40AM ET

By Philip Blenkinsop

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Anheuser-Busch InBev's new leadership set the company's first earnings target on Monday, forecasting 4% to 8% growth in core profit over the next four years based on rising beer sales and expansion in other drinks and even food.

Michel Doukeris, who has been chief executive of the world's largest brewer since July 1, told Reuters before an investor seminar on Monday that the beer market had expanded over the past four years, despite a false narrative that it was not growing.

Beer was also forecast by Euromonitor to expand its share of the alcohol market in the next four at the expense of wine and spirits, he said.

AB InBev, which sells one in four beers sold globally, should benefit from that growth and accelerate it by pushing higher-priced 'premium' beers, Doukeris said, promoting non-beer products such as seltzers and canned wines and cocktails, and selling more online.

The group will also look closer at by-products of barley brewing such as proteins and fibres, which were now sold "almost for free", but could be incorporated into plant-based food.

Doukeris, AB InBev's former head of sales and of its North American business, replaced fellow Brazilian Carlos Brito, who built the brewer into the world's largest during 15 years at the helm.

Brito steered growth through acquisitions and cost savings. His successor is focusing more on boosting sales of over 500 brands, including seven of the world's top 10 beers, in an already concentrated market.