AB InBev revenue rises by over 11 per cent on back of record high volumes

AB InBev has reported 11.2 per cent increase in revenue in its 2022 financial year, helped by record high volumes amid sustained demand.

Total volumes grew by 2.3 per cent in the year, with own beer volumes up by 1.8 per cent and non-beer volumes up by 5.2 per cent.  The revenue per hectolitre (100l) growth was 8.6 per cent, accelerating in the second half of the year driven by revenue management initiatives and continued premiumisation.

The company’s global brands, Budweiser, Stella Artois and Corona registered 8.9 per cent increase in combined revenues, outside of their respective home markets.

“We delivered all-time high full-year volumes with accelerated revenue per hl, resulting in 11.2 per cent revenue growth and EBITDA growth at the top-end of our outlook,” Michel Doukeris, AB InBev chief executive, said.

“Underlying EPS increased by 5.2 per cent and another year of strong free cash flow generation resulted in deleveraging to a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 3.51x.”

Normalized EBITDA increased by 7.2 per cent to $19.84 billion (£16.54bn), but normalized EBITDA margin contracted by 126 bps to 34.3 per cent. The company noted that normalized EBITDA figure of the financial year include an impact of $201 million from tax credits in Brazil.

Underlying profit was $6.09bn in FY22 compared to $5.77bn in the previous year. Underlying EPS for 2022 stood at $3.03, an increase from $2.88 in FY21.

The company attributed the growth to the consistent execution of its strategy and strength of the beer category globally.

“While 2022 was not without its challenges, including economic uncertainties, elevated input costs and supply chain disruptions which continued to constrain our full growth potential, we are pleased that our company once again delivered EBITDA growth at the upper end of our medium-term growth ambition and outlook for the year,” the company said.

“Our performance is a direct result of our fundamental strengths and strategic choices, as we continued to invest in our brands, capabilities and accelerated digital transformation, while optimising our business.”

The company expects the EBITDA to grow in line with their medium term outlook of between 4-8 per cent and revenue to grow ahead of EBITDA from a healthy combination of volume and price in 2023.